The man alleged to have suffocated his pregnant girlfriend after the victim survived a deliberate crash pleaded guilty to the crime of murder. The suspect has been sentenced with 28 to 56 years in prison by a judge on Friday.

Benjamin Klinger, 21, admitted to the December 4, 2012 murder of his girlfriend Samantha "Sammi" Heller, 17, after the latter endured the premeditated car crash. Police records reveal that Klinger intentionally crashed the vehicle into a guardrail along Route 283 in Rapho Township by reaching a speed of 115-mph. An unverified claim states that Klinger had been physically and verbally abusive in the past. Moreover, he had just recently found out about Heller's pregnancy before deciding to kill her. However, no report has confirmed if Heller was actually pregnant at the time of the crash.  

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Klinger offered an apology to Heller's parents, step-parents, and other members of the victim's family. "I accept full responsibility for the loss of a very special person. I want you to know with all my heart I'm sorry... really sorry," he stated.

Sandy McFall, the victim's mother, agreed to the terms of the sentence upon learning that Klinger confessed to the crime and detailed his deliberate attempt to crash the vehicle. In a statement she read in court, McFall said that she felt like a "prisoner" in her own home after her only child passed away. "I want you to have nothing else to do (in prison) but think about how you took her life and destroyed ours," she said as she addressed Klinger.

Accident investigators disclosed that Klinger drove a 1986 Toyota Celica at a high rate of speed. The crash was declared to be deliberate as no evident indicators of braking on the road had been found. A passerby was said to have called 911 after seeing Klinger seemingly sitting on Heller's head. The witness said that he appeared to be attempting to suffocate the victim whose protests were heard in the recorded emergency call. This claim was later on verified as the 911 audio transcript included Heller's cries of "get off of me" throughout the call.

In addition, the police officers who responded to the call testified that they saw Klinger on top of the face-down body of Heller. Authorities stated that the suspect seemed to be losing consciousness every now and then while shifting the girl's head several times. However, medical experts later clarified that Klinger was merely faking his condition. The autopsy of Heller's body showed that she died due to a trauma she suffered from the accident and asphyxia.

TagsBenjamin Klinger, Samantha "Sammi" Heller, Rapho Township, Route 283, Sandy McFall, car crash, Murder, asphyxia, Toyota Celica