Sheboygan 4-year-old hit, killed; man accused pleads no contest
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - A Sheboygan man accused in connection with a fatal pedestrian crash that happened in April 2023 pleaded no contest on Monday, July 1 to a charge of homicide by vehicle use-controlled substance. The accused is Nathan Heitzmann.
A second charge of knowingly operating while suspect (cause death) was dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
Case details
According to the criminal complaint, Sheboygan police were dispatched to the area near N. 21st and Saemann Avenue on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 for a report of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle.
An officer who arrived on the scene found a minivan and a white pickup truck, later identified as having been driver by the defendant, Nathan Heitzmann. Also on the scene, officers found a 4-year-old child who suffered fatal injuries, the child's mother, and two other juveniles. The complaint says "the children had stopped to pet a dog" belonging to a third person who was also present at the crash scene.
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That third person told police reported to police "he observed a white vehicle fail to stop at the intersection's stop sign on North 21st Street," the complaint says. The witness also stated "an accident occurred, and he then observed a maroon van coming towards him and the children. He reported he yanked his dog out of the way and fell backwards onto the concrete."
The two other children at the scene also were hurt -- with abrasions and cuts.
According to the complaint, "the defendant indicated that the crash was his fault and he felt guilty for what occurred. He made several comments to (an officer) that he made a mistake and did not plan on his day going that way."
When another police sergeant made contact with Heitzmann at the scene, he noted the defendant did not have a valid driver's license. The complaint says Heitzmann responded, "Wow, I thought I still had a point or two left, but OK, I knew it was close, I'm on and off the fricking license." The defendant also reported, "I can tell you exactly what happened, this is my fault...I looked, I stopped at the stop sign OK, looked back and forth, saw them playing on the corner, when I looked to the right, I did only look once, I'm not gonna lie, and it was kind of quick, and I did not see any car, but I'm assuming they were behind my A-pillar, that was just perfect out of my view, it's my fault."
On April 24, the complaint says investigators completed an airbag module download of both vehicles involved in the crash. The data showed the defendant's vehicle "was going 16.5 mph five seconds prior to the crash, progressively slowing to 5.9 mph two seconds prior to the crash, then began increasing speed to 13.1 mph 0.5 seconds prior to the crash, and 16.2 mph at the time of the crash." The investigators say "the data incident that the defendant never made a complete stop at the stop sign prior to the crash."
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According to the criminal complaint, investigators made contact with the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and learned they had sent two letters to the defendant -- "one on March 8, 2023, telling him his license was being suspended due to having 14 point violations, and the next on March 27, 2023, indicating that there was an additional 3-point violation they were adding."
When investigators presented the letters of suspension to Heitzmann, he said, "Let's just go with that, I was suspended, and I'm still driving, and I shouldn't be."