Eastern Iowa Man Sentenced to 30 Years For Homicide in Parking Lot

An eastern Iowa man has been sentenced following an incident that happened in Center Point more than two years ago.

According to a Linn County Sheriff's Office media release on Sunday, December 1, 2019, deputies were called to Center Point at 1:30 a.m. that morning for a report of an accident that involved two pedestrians and a vehicle. It happened in the parking lot of Bully's North (a portion of the parking lot is in the photo above), a bar located at 510 Iowa Street in Center Point.

When deputies arrived on the scene, they found two people had been hit in the parking lot. 50-year-old Kimberley Swore of Center Point died at the scene and her boyfriend, Jack Greenhaw of Vinton, 46, sustained five broken ribs and a punctured lung in the incident.

Witnesses at the scene said Bret D. Klima of Urbana had struck the two and left the scene. Klima, who was 30 at the time, turned himself in later in the day.

According to U.S. News, the criminal complaint in the case stated that while the vehicle was in reverse, Klima accelerated and struck Swore and Greenhaw before driving away from the scene.

U.S. News reports that Klima pleaded guilty to one count of homicide by vehicle--operating under the influence. He also pleaded guilty to serious injury by vehicle.

On Monday, a judge sentenced Klima to 30 years in prison and ordered him to pay $150,000 in restitution. Klima was sentenced to 25 years for the homicide by vehicle charge and an additional 5 years for the serious injury charge. The sentences are to be served consecutively.