Father sentenced to probation after drunk-driving crash that killed three family members near Freiburg
A 47-year-old man received a suspended sentence of one year and ten months for negligent homicide and drunk driving after a May 2025 crash on the B3 motorway killed his six-year-old daughter, his nephew, and his stepdaughter.
The crash
On an evening in early May 2025, a 47-year-old man and his 27-year-old nephew attended a birthday party in Schallstadt. There they met the man's 34-year-old former partner and her four children, the three youngest of whom are his. After the celebration, the children urged the family to drive home together. The man agreed, later telling the court he could never forgive himself for giving in.
Shortly before 11 p.m., the seven of them set off in a five-seater car on the B3 motorway towards Freiburg. According to the defendant's statement, he confused an exit and instead of turning onto the Besançonallee, he drove onto a parking lot running parallel to the highway. Travelling at around 70 kilometres per hour, the car veered off the through lane and crashed head-on into a semi-trailer that was properly parked on the hard shoulder. The vehicle caught fire immediately. Witnesses pulled all seven occupants from the burning wreck.
The six-year-old daughter of the driver and his 27-year-old nephew died at the scene. A 13-year-old girl, the daughter of the mother from a previous relationship, later died in hospital. The other four occupants, including the driver, the mother, and two sons aged three and seven, suffered serious injuries such as fractures, head injuries, and a lung contusion. A blood sample taken after the crash measured 1.4 promille alcohol in the driver.
Police later said the parking-lot entrance lay so close to the motorway that occasional mix-ups occurred. Investigators determined the car was designed for only five people, and given the number and severity of injuries, it was assumed that the four children and the nephew on the rear bench were not wearing seatbelts.
The trial
On 29 July 2026, the trial opened before the Freiburg District Court. The defendant faced charges of negligent homicide in three cases, negligent endangerment of road traffic, and negligent bodily injury. A police officer who was among the first responders broke down repeatedly while describing the scene: lifeless bodies, some of them children, lying on the road, and the driver sitting in the grass further ahead, in shock, saying he had been at the wheel and had underestimated the situation.
The defendant, visibly shaken throughout the proceedings, had a statement read by his lawyer. He said not a day passed without him circling around what happened, and that he still could not forgive himself for agreeing to drive.
Verdict and remorse
Presiding judge Stefan Schuller sentenced the man to one year and ten months suspended on probation.
My sentence will probably be irrelevant to you. You will have to live with the guilt for the rest of your life.
The judge's words reflected the gravity of a tragedy that left a courtroom, including lawyers and the judge himself, visibly shaken. The defendant will serve no prison time but carries a conviction for the deaths of two children and a young adult.
