GREENSBURG, Pa. — A Saltsburg man has pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle in connection with a fatal accident that claimed the life of a Blairsville resident on Route 22 in Derry Township in September 2020. Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli announced that Martin McKnight, 47, entered his guilty plea before Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani.
McKnight was charged after failing to stop at a red light at the intersection of Route 981 and Route 22, causing a collision with a pickup truck driven by 62-year-old Alan Goldizen. Witnesses told police that McKnight ran the red light, striking the driver’s side door of Goldizen’s vehicle. Following the crash, McKnight abandoned his vehicle and fled the scene but turned himself in to Pennsylvania State Police the following day.
Goldizen was hospitalized after the collision and later died from complications related to his injuries nearly a month later.
As part of his sentencing, McKnight was ordered to serve 2 to 5 years in prison, followed by two years of probation. DA Ziccarelli expressed gratitude to the Pennsylvania State Police at Kiski for their investigation and to Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli, who prosecuted the case.
McKnight’s guilty plea brings closure to the case more than three years after the tragic incident.