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Drunk driver sentenced for killing WMU student

Posted at 7:28 PM, Dec 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-21 19:28:38-05
Mugshot of Morgan Rowley

Mugshot of Morgan Rowley

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich– The hit-and-run driver who killed a student from Western Michigan University will be spending the next 10 to 20 years in prison.

Morgan Rowley was sentenced on Wednesday, after a motion to withdraw one of her pleas in the case was denied by the court. Rowley was charged with Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death and Failure to Stop at a Personal Injury Accident, When at Fault, Resulting in Death, following a crash in May.

Nic Heil, courtesy photo.

Nic Heil, courtesy photo.

Police say Rowley was drunk when she hit Nicholas Heil, 21, as he was jogging in the 5400 block of KL Avenue in Oshtemo Township. Heil was taken to the hospital where he passed away. Rowley was later found at a nearby apartment complex and arrested. Police say she was twice the legal limit when the crash happened.

Rowley previously pleaded guilty to a drunk driving charge in 2015.  She spent four days in jail and received a year of probation.

Nic Heil was a 2013 graduate of Fruitport High School and had been studying mechanical engineering at WMU.