Inset left: Jason Zehe (Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office). Inset right: Megan Voss (Randle-Dable-Brisk Funeral Home). Background: The crash location at Sunset Drive and Guthrie Road in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Dec. 30, 2024 (WITI).
A Wisconsin man has learned his fate for driving drunk and crashing into a high school senior, killing her and her dog.
Jason Zehe, 19, received a sentence of 10 years in prison with an additional 10 years of extended supervision on Thursday in Waukesha County court, as reported by local media, including local Fox affiliate WITI. He was further mandated to undergo treatment programs, maintain sobriety, and perform 200 hours of community service — eight of those hours specifically on Dec. 30 each year, marking the day he fatally struck Megan Voss, 17.
Before receiving his sentence, Zehe admitted guilt to charges of homicide resulting from the intoxicated use of a vehicle and second-degree reckless endangerment. In this process, two other felony charges and three misdemeanors were dropped.
“It was his decision to get in the car,” Judge Michael Aprahamian said on Thursday. “He could have called an Uber. He didn’t.”
On Dec. 30, 2024, before the crash occurred, Zehe had visited his girlfriend’s house, investigators discovered. It was reported that he informed prosecutors he had taken two drinks prior to driving his pickup truck, although his girlfriend alleged that he had been drinking throughout the whole day, as stated by ABC affiliate WISN.
The Wisconsin native was reported to be speeding along Sunset Drive in Waukesha when he ignored a stop sign and collided with an Audi sedan on Guthrie Road, along with an additional SUV. The Audi, driven by Voss, resulted in her death after she was airlifted to a nearby medical facility, as stated by the Waukesha Police Department at the time. Her dog, Bleu, who was with her in the car, was injured so severely that he had to be euthanized.
Zehe’s girlfriend was in his truck at the time of the crash and was partially ejected from the vehicle, although she did not sustain life-threatening injuries. The man in the SUV reported that he was unharmed.
Officers are said to have arrived at the scene to find Zehe outside his truck crying and covered in blood.
“I’m just a stupid boyfriend. I am just trying to take her home,” Zehe reportedly told responding Waukesha police officers. “I was trying to take her home and then all of a sudden, I don’t know, I don’t know what happened.”
He was also asked if he was headed in the direction his vehicle was facing at the crime scene. “Yes, I am not some f–ing drunkard all the time,” he said, per WITI. “I crashed.”
Zehe continued answering questions as he was brought to the hospital to be checked, this time from a paramedic, who asked if he had been drinking.
“Nothing,” he is said to have replied, also denying taking drugs. “No. Like literally nothing. That’s what I am saying.”
But Zehe later said while being treated in the ambulance, “I just wish I wasn’t drunk,” according to prosecutors. He kept speaking, too, adding, “I am the one driving, and yeah, I should get charged.”
Investigators believed Zehe’s girlfriend when she said he had been drinking “all day.” His drinks of choice were wine and vodka, which he was drinking for eight hours before the crash, prosecutors said, and his BAC level was 0.249 – more than three times the legal limit.
According to The Waukesha Freeman, an arrest complaint said Zehe maintained his girlfriend’s parents “got him drunk, knew he was drunk and forced him to leave.” Charges are being considered for these parents, Waukesha County District Attorney Leslie Boese told WITI.
“I’m sincerely sorry,” Zehe said on Thursday before being sentenced, as Voss’ family members sat in court. “There aren’t enough words to describe how sorry I am.”
