Man gets 12 years in prison for crash that killed pregnant woman in Overland Park

A 22-year-old Shawnee man was sentenced Monday to more than 12 years in prison for causing a crash that killed a pregnant woman earlier this year in Overland Park.

Raphael E. Sherman had pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder for his part in the January wreck that killed Denise Lopez, 25, of Kansas City, Kan. After the crash, Lopez was taken to a hospital where doctors delivered her baby before she died.

Sherman had also pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated battery. On Monday, Johnson County District Court Judge J. Charles Droege sentenced Sherman to 149 months in prison.

The wreck occurred about 7 p.m. Jan. 10, after a Prairie Village police officer tried to pull over a vehicle, driven by Sherman, at 75th Street and Lamar Avenue. The vehicle started to slow and then sped away.

The vehicle ran a red light seconds later at 75th and Metcalf Avenue, striking a truck Lopez was in. The vehicle also struck a minivan. Several other people were injured in the wreck.

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Man gets 12 years in prison for crash that killed pregnant woman in Overland Park."