SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A man charged in connection to a deadly crash that killed a little girl in Sheboygan is now being charged with stealing a cross from her memorial.
Nathan Heitzmann, 24, was charged with:
- Knowingly Operating While Suspended (Cause Death)
- Homicide by Veh. Use-Control. Substance
But now, Heitzmann has been charged with theft after prosecutors say he went to the memorial site of his victim and stole a cross.
Four-year-old Cordelia Kuether died in April after two vehicles collided at 21st and Saemann. She had stopped to pet a dog when the crash happened. A two-year-old child was also hit and suffered minor injuries. Police say their mother witnessed the crash.
According to a criminal complaint, the cross was purchased by Cordelia's family and placed at her memorial. The memorial was in a private yard at the site of her death. Officers were assigned to investigate the theft on Aug. 17 and received reports the cross was stolen by Heitzmann, the man criminally charged in the crash that resulted in Cordelia's death.
A witness told authorities Heitzmann showed him a white cross he had in a backpack, the complaint says. Heitzmann allegedly said he "needed it for himself."
An officer interviewed Heitzmann regarding the stolen cross. The complaint says Heitzmann claimed to have no idea and said "did it get picked up and grow legs." Heitzmann also allegedly said, "Are you sure my little brother didn't take the sign officer, the other day he told me he was really sick of looking at it."
Heitzmann faces one misdemeanor count of theft. If convicted, he faces a maximum fine of $10,000 and/or 9 months in prison.
Nathan Heitzmann is back behind bars
We were able to talk to the 24-year-old before he went to court on Thursday.
TMJ4’s Julia Fello asked, “Do you want to explain the allegations against you?”
Heitzmann replied, “No."
Fello asked, “Cordelia's memorial cross was taken?”
Hitzmann said, “I have nothing to say about that.”
The 4-year-old’s grandfather spoke out in court during Heitzmann’s bond hearing, “Would you please help us with this? Because if you can't behave, then report somewhere where he can be watched.”
So did the little girl’s grandmother, who made the cross, saying to the judge, “Stealing a memorial is like desecrating somebody's grave. It's just unfathomable. Where are your morals where you know what are you thinking?”
TMJ4 spoke to the grandmother earlier Thursday at 21st and Saemann. She showed us the new cross she made, that’s now nailed to the tree.
“You wake up you think about her… you go to bed thinking about her,” said Cornelia’s grandmother.
The judge combined the charges in the deadly crash and the misdemeanor theft charge of the memorial cross into one case.
“Exposing him to 38 years of incarceration,” said Judge Rebecca Persick, Sheboygan County Court.
Cornelia’s grandmother changes the flowers on the cross each season. She says it’s because this spot means something not just to the family, but the entire community.
The death of Cordelia Kuether
According to a criminal complaint, Sheboygan police responded to 21st and Saemann on Wednesday, April 12 for a two-vehicle crash. A driver in a pickup truck, later identified as Heitzmann, was heading south on 21st Street when he collided with another driver in a minivan who was heading east on Saemann. The crash caused the driver of the minivan to leave the roadway and strike a group of pedestrians. The crash killed Cordelia and injured three others.
Heitzmann told police he stopped at the intersection's stop sign and looked both ways, but did not see any other vehicles coming. He said he entered the intersection, was hit by another driver, and then called 911.
According to the complaint, Heitzmann said the crash was his fault, that he felt guilty, and that he made a mistake.
The other driver told police that Heitzmann went through the stop sign and hit her. Witnesses at the scene reported hearing Heitzmann say he "never saw them until it was too late."
Surveillance footage obtained by police has audio of the incident that sounds like an engine revving up before a crash, followed by brakes locking, and "a much louder bang."
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The complaint says when police told Heitzmann that he didn't have a valid driver's license, he responded, "Wow I thought I still had a point or two left, but ok, I knew it was close, I'm on and off the fricking license."
He also said, “I can tell you exactly what happened, this is my fault…. I looked, I stopped at the stop sign ok, looked back and forth, saw them playing on the corner, when I looked to the right, I did only look once, I’m not gonna lie, and it was kind of quick, and I did not see any car, but I’m assuming they were behind my A-pillar, that was just perfect out of my view, it’s my fault.”
According to an airbag module download of both involved vehicles, data revealed Heitzmann never made a complete stop at the stop sign prior to the crash.
The complaint says the Department of Motor Vehicles also sent two separate letters in March of this year to Heitzmann notifying him that his license was suspended. Heitzmann provided one of the letters to the police and confirmed he received it prior to the crash.
If convicted in the deadly crash, Heitzmann faces a maximum of six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A GoFundMe has been created for Cordelia's family.
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