California Man Sentenced In Crash That Killed Marietta Fireman

POWDER SPRINGS, GA -- A California man convicted of drunk driving and vehicular homicide in the death of a Marietta firefighter this past spring was sentenced recently to seven years in prison, Patch has learned. Benjamin Seider, 24, pleaded no contest to the charges, which were read to him in a California courtroom Friday, local media reported.

Ron C. Herens, 23, of Powder Springs was killed in April in a multi-vehicle collision at an intersection near Marina Del Rey. Two other Marietta firefighters -- Dillon Guest and Doug Blanchard -- suffered non-life threatening injuries in the crash. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Herens' Herens' parents, Dirk Herens and Cobi Koene, were in the California courtroom during the sentencing. "I think under the circumstances, justice was served. Is it long enough for me personally? No, it not," Dirk Herens told WGCL.

Koene told the TV station that it's not about the time behind bars, it's about what the defendant does with his life going forward. "It will be more meaningful if when he comes out, that he serves the rest of his life trying to educate people, trying to make sure it doesn't happen to other people," she was quoted as saying.

Ron Herens' girlfriend, Rosa Campos, was more conflicted about the sentence.
"It's just really confusing because you have this plan for your life and then all of a sudden its taken away from you," Campos said.

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"It definitely doesn't feel like enough. By the time that he comes out, he will still have his whole life ahead of him. He can still have a family, he can still have a future, a career. Ron can't have that anymore," Campos was quoted as saying.

During the crash, which occurred near Marina Del Rey, Herens was ejected from the vehicle. Guest and Blanchard were taken to hospitals, one for treatment of a possible broken collarbone and hip, and the other for lacerations sustained in the crash.

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Image via Marietta Fire Department