Wichita man sentenced in deadly Easter weekend crash that killed two motorcycle riders

A Sedgwick County judge on Friday sentenced a 24-year-old Wichita man to two years, 10 months in prison for leaving the scene of a deadly hit-and-run crash that killed two people over Easter weekend last year.

Authorities have said Collin Becker turned his 2011 Dodge Dakota in front of a 2004 Honda Shadow 750 motorcycle at 17th and Tyler, killing both riders: Levi Ward and Jacob Fowler, both 20 and of Wichita. Becker went home to his west Wichita apartment after the collision and didn’t turn himself in until later, when his father took him back to the intersection after Becker called saying he “had messed up and was involved in an accident,” according to an affidavit released by the court. The crash happened after 2 a.m. April 16, 2022.

Witnesses interviewed by police said before the collision Becker had been at their home, about a block away from the crash site, for a gathering of friends.

Becker pleaded guilty on Dec. 8 on one count of leaving the scene of an accident, which is a felony. Judge Eric Williams imposed the 34-month sentence, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Becker’s defense lawyer in a Jan. 11 written motion had asked the judge to be lenient, granting probation with a 60-day jail sanction or no more than 16 months in prison in the alternative, court records show.