Sheboygan child killed, memorial cross stolen; man sentenced
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - The Sheboygan man convicted in a crash that killed a 4-year-old girl – and later the theft of a cross placed at her memorial – was sentenced to prison on Thursday.
Nathan Heitzmann, 25, pleaded no contest in July to homicide by vehicle in the death of Cordelia Kuether. He pleaded no contest to felony bail jumping in the cross theft case as well.
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For both cases, Heitzmann was sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison and 13 years of extended supervision.
Additional charges were dismissed but read in for the purposes of sentencing as part of a plea deal.
Fatal pedestrian crash at 21st and Saemann in Sheboygan
Fatal crash
Sheboygan police were called to the area of 21st and Saemann on April 12, 2023. There, an officer found a minivan and a white pickup truck – later identified as having been driven by Heitzmann.
Officers found the 4-year-old girl, later identified as Kuether, with fatal injuries. Her mother and two other kids were there, too. The complaint said "the children had stopped to pet a dog" belonging to a third person who was also present at the crash scene.
That third person told police he saw "a white vehicle fail to stop at the intersection's stop sign on North 21st Street," the complaint said. The witness also said an accident took place, and he saw a maroon van coming toward him and the children. He reported he yanked his dog out of the way and fell backwards onto the concrete.
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The two other children at the scene also were hurt – with abrasions and cuts.
According to the complaint, Heitzmann "indicated that the crash was his fault and he felt guilty for what occurred." He made several comments to police 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 Heitzmann did not have a valid driver's license. The complaint said 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." He also allegedly said: "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."
Fatal pedestrian crash at 21st and Saemann in Sheboygan
Investigators completed an airbag module download of both vehicles involved in the crash. According to the complaint, the data showed Heitzmann's vehicle was going 16.5 mph seconds prior to the crash and progressively slowed down before then increasing speed to 13.1 mph a half-second before impact and 16.2 mph at the time of the crash. Investigators said the data "indicated that the defendant never made a complete stop at the stop sign prior to the crash."
According to the complaint, investigators spoke to Wisconsin DMV officials and learned they had sent two letters to Heitzmann – one in early March 2023 "telling him his license was being suspended due to having 14 point violations," and the second in late March 2032 "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."
Stolen cross
According to a criminal complaint, a memorial cross for Kuether was placed, with the homeowner's permission, at the location of the crash. The cross was purchased by the family of the victim, and a new one was later secured to a tree.
"Life is very fragile, and you never know exactly when something as fragile as that can be taken away from us," said Devon Kuether, the child's father.
Cordelia Kuether
The investigation into the theft of the memorial cross began in August 2023. A witness told authorities Heitzmann showed up at work to pick up his radio and as the two were leaving the building, Heitzmann allegedly opened his backpack, which contained a white cross. Heitzmann allegedly told the witness that he took the cross because he "needed it for himself," according to the complaint.
"How could this guy, who essentially caused the accident that took my daughter from me, how could he go and do this?" said Kuether.
Officers interviewed Heitzmann the next day. During that time, Heitzmann allegedly said he had no idea what happened to the cross and said "did it get picked up and grow legs," according to the complaint. He also allegedly said "are you sure my little brother didn't take the sign officer, the other day he told me he was really getting sick of looking at it."