CLEVELAND — Judge Timothy McCormick found Leander Bissell guilty of hitting and killing veteran Cleveland firefighter Johnny Tetrick.
You can watch the reading of the verdict in the player below:
In November of 2022, Engine 22 responded to a crash involving a flipped vehicle on I-90 eastbound at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Witnesses said a car drove through the scene, hit Tetrick and took off.
Tetrick was transported to University Hospitals, where he was pronounced dead. He had served the City of Cleveland for more than 27 years, most of that time with Engine 22 on the city's East Side.
Bissell was indicted and on the following charges last year:
- One count of Murder
- Two counts of Felonious Assault
- One count of Involuntary Manslaughter
- One count of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide
- One count of Failure To Stop After Accident
- One count of Failure to Comply
McCormick found him guilty on all counts. He told the court: “When I was first assigned this case, my initial reaction was perhaps it was over-indicted, and it was a stretch for the State of Ohio. However, this original impression was wrong. After a clear presentation of facts, this turned out to be the right indictment.”
“The death of Firefighter Tetrick was not an accident. After initially stopping, Leander Bissell decided to swerve around safety vehicles and speed through an accident scene at 50 mph,” said Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley. “That decision cost a dedicated father and firefighter his life. I hope the verdict today can help his family and our community begin to heal.”
Carl Mazzone, the prosecutor on the case, said it was the Ohio Department of Transportation's video and body cam footage of that night that showed Bissell had a reasonable expectation that his actions could result in death.
"The body cam footage is the last time you see Firefighter Tetrick doing what he loved to do, which was come up and serve the public, which he did for 27 years and made sure that people are okay," he said.
Tetrick's three daughters, Falon, Regan and Eden, said they have been getting through the last 8 months with the support of the Cleveland Fire Department.
"The guys have been incredible, like I know I can call them for the little or biggest stuff like we got locked out of our house, and we couldn’t get back in, and we knew we could call any one of them to help, and they did. It’s nice to know that they're always going to be there," said Eden. "Not only have they been there for our family, but they are our family."
His daughters said that their dad was a man of unwavering faith.
"We used to wake up in the morning, and he would drop us off to school, and he would ask us, 'Who comes first?' and we would say 'God,' and he said, 'Who comes next? Others and then yourself,' so I think that kind of speaks to every aspect of his life and what he poured into us and those guys back there," said Falon.
They said because of that faith, they do not have hate in their heart for Bissell, though they believe justice was served.
"I want him to understand that despite what he did and how much I hate the results of those actions, I don’t hate him. I don’t have any hatred in my heart for him, and I hope that whatever the rest of his life looks like, it will be used for good," said Eden.
Bissell is set to be sentenced on Aug. 9.
Tetrick's death was felt deeply by fellow firefighters and many in the community.
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