A Toledo man who drove off without stopping after he struck and killed a pedestrian was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison.

Alex L. Bays, 26, of the 1500 block of East Broadway Street pleaded no contest Aug. 8 and was found guilty of failure to stop after an accident for the April 3 crash in which Michael A. Morris, 58, of Toledo was killed.

Although prosecutors said Bays was not reckless or intoxicated, the offense of failure to stop after an accident became a third-degree felony because a death resulted.

Bays told the court he was sorry.

“It's going to haunt me for the rest of my life,” he said.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ian English said Bays should be haunted.

“The fact that you hit this man and then kept on your merry way and he didn't receive immediate treatment … you should be haunted,” Judge English said. “Had you stopped and yelled for help and 911 was immediately called and you tended to the injuries you caused, he might not be dead.”

Bays was driving a tow truck about 8:40 p.m. April 3 on Western Avenue when he turned the corner at Canal Avenue and struck Mr. Morris, who was in the roadway. Bays drove off but later returned claiming he did not know he had struck an individual.

Judge English pointed out that Bays was driving on a suspended driver's license at the time. He also said Bays claimed he didn't have any problems with drugs or alcohol, but that all but two of his drug tests had been positive for THC, the chemical in marijuana.

Denise Morris, the victim’s sister, asked the court to impose the maximum sentence of three years, saying she did not believe the incident was investigated as it should have been, that Bays should have been tested for alcohol or drugs, and that had it been her brother who was driving and Bays who was killed, things would've been handled differently.

“We're hoping that Mr. Bays does his 36 months behind bars without any probation or parole in between,” she said. “That will bring us some kind of closure, to understand that what he did he was punished for.”

Michael Loisel, deputy chief of the criminal division for the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office, said afterward that when Bays returned to the accident scene about two hours later, police said he showed no indications of intoxication and therefore they did not have him tested.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

First Published September 28, 2017, 4:00 p.m.