Man sentenced for vehicular manslaughter

A Boise man charged with causing a crash in 2011 that killed a former Mountain Home resident has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Tyrell Prather, 28, was convicted on a single count of vehicular manslaughter during a hearing Nov. 4 at the Elmore County Courthouse.

He was accused of causing a single-vehicle crash that killed William Sauerland, who previously lived in Mountain Home before moving to Boise. According to an Idaho State Police report, Prather was driving a Chevrolet pick-up truck eastbound on Danskin Road when it drifted off the right shoulder the evening of Sept. 30, 2011.

The truck then rolled back onto the roadway before it overturned. Sauerland was one of two occupants in the vehicle that were ejected during the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Court documents emphasized that alcohol, combined with excessive speed, were contributing factors in the crash.

Prather will qualify for parole after serving 18 months in confinement while receiving credit for 132 days already served in jail. He pled guilty to the manslaughter charge Sept. 20.

The crash wasn't the first time that Prather was involved in an alcohol-related incident. In February 2013, he was arrested in Bannock County for a third count of driving under the influence.