A motorist who killed a Cleveland firefighter by driving through an accident scene had his conviction reinstated by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Johnny Tetrick was responding to an accident on Interstate 90 in November 2022. Police had blocked the left two lanes, while traffic proceeded in the right two lanes.

Tetrick crossed to the right shoulder of the road to assist one of the accident victims before making his way back across the highway.

As Tetrick stopped to pick up a piece of debris, Leander Bissell drove a white Chevrolet Malibu into him, sending him 100 feet down the highway.

Bissell kept driving, and Tetrick was pronounced dead at the hospital.

A police sergeant investigating the case determined that Bissell hit Tetrick at approximately 49 mph.

Bissell was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

However, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision due to insufficient evidence. The court stated that Bissell had acted recklessly, not knowingly, as the evidence did not show that Bissell had seen Tetrick or aimed the car at him.

The state appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, which reinstated Bissell’s conviction in an opinion written by Justice Pat Fischer.

“The evidence indicates that Bissell saw at least four parked police vehicles because he managed to swerve around each one,” he wrote. “Bissell’s argument  that approximately 28 vehicles were seen driving through the center-left lane past the flipped vehicle like he did does not aid his position.

“As Bissell concedes, none of those vehicles were traveling at the same high rate of speed as Bissell,” Fischer added. “And none of those vehicles hit any of the first responders or bystanders in the roadway.”