Missouri man sentenced to prison in fatal hit-and-run crash

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A 20-year-old Missouri man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison as part of a plea deal in a hit-and-run crash that killed an Illinois woman.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/16pMspk ) reports William J. Gallagher pleaded guilty Monday to several charges, including first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors dropped a second-degree murder charge against Gallagher in the death of 87-year-old Virginia Bedrosian from Greenville, Illinois.

Police say Gallagher was driving in a stolen car with his underage runaway girlfriend when officers pulled him over in April 2013. They say Gallagher nearly struck an officer before driving off.

Officers say the stolen car, traveling around 85 mph, hit another vehicle that Bedrosian was in. Gallagher later got out of the car and ran. Officers then chased and apprehended him.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com