A Tonganoxie man was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison for the murder of his 9-year-old son, who died in a truck crash while his father was driving under the influence of alcohol.

Shane Michael Degraeve, 35, was driving a GMC Sierra pickup truck on September 4, 2022 when he ran the truck off the road into a ditch at 70 mph, according to court documents. The Degraeve family had been visiting various relatives that day, according to court documents.

The crash occurred around Easton Road and K-92d in Leavenworth County around 8:15 p.m., according to court documents. The truck rolled and ejected 9-year-old Greyson Degraeve, who later died.

Greyson was alive when the truck crashed, but struggling to breathe and unable to move his legs, according to testimony from May 2023. Degraeve’s other sons Cashton, 13, and Stetson, 3, survived the crash.

Greyson Degraeve was a 3rd-grader at Tonganoxie Elementary School, according to an obituary shared by Quisenberry Funeral Home in Tonganoxie. His family remembers him as a gentle caretaker who was good with babies and with the various animals at his home, including dogs, cats and fowl.

He also loved cars, trucks, fishing “and all things American flag,” according to the obituary.

“Greyson brought joy and laughter to everyone that knew him,” the obituary reads. “… He was a mama’s boy, but had a love for big trucks like his daddy. He will be greatly missed.”

Greyson was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said in a statement Friday. Shane and Cashton were also not wearing seat belts during the crash, according to court documents.

On April 4, a jury found Degraeve guilty of second-degree murder, along with reckless driving and three counts of child endangerment. He was sentenced Friday to 135 months in prison, or just over 11 years.

“Our hearts go out to the families involved in this incident,” Thompson said in Friday’s statement. “DeGraeve’s responsibilities as a father include adhering to traffic laws, avoiding driving under the influence, and ensuring the safety of his children.”

Shane had installed a seat-belt silencer on the front passenger seat of the truck, preventing the vehicle from beeping if anyone sitting there was not buckled in, Thompson wrote. The device blocked the seat belt from being used properly, according to court documents, leaving Greyson unprotected in the passenger seat during the crash. A second seat in the car also had a silencer.

Shane Degraeve registered a blood alcohol level of .083 percent more than three hours after the crash, according to Thompson. The legal limit in Kansas is .08, and blood alcohol level can drop up to 0.02% per hour after someone finishes drinking.

Law enforcement officers testified that they smelled alcohol coming from Shane Degraeve at the scene of the accident, and that he was lethargic with bloodshot eyes. Degraeve said he had been run off the road, which was not supported by witness statements or evidence during his trial, per Thompson.

Cashton Degraeve told the jury in May 2023 that Shane Degraeve was drinking beer throughout the day, starting at breakfast, including before driving, and had brought five to seven beers along in a cooler in the truck. Cashton also testified that Shane was on his phone at the time of the accident.

Degraeve had previously been charged with several traffic infractions, including speeding, illegal parking and operating machinery with reduced vision, according to court documents.

Ninety-five people died in alcohol-related vehicle accidents in Kansas in 2022, the most recent full year of data available from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Alcohol was a contributing factor in 3.7% of traffic crashes that year.