'Selfish actions': Drag-racing driver who killed Serra Catholic student in crash pleads guilty to murder

For nearly two hours, Nenita Kalkbrenner alternated between sobbing in the courtroom and fiercely hugging each witness who spoke on behalf of her daughter Samantha— killed on the way to school by a drag-racing driver.

Wearing a turquoise T-shirt emblazoned with the face of the 15-year-old girl and the words “Justice for Sam,” Kalkbrenner was the epitome of support and need.

Strength and grief.

Love and anger.

When it was her time to speak, Kalkbrenner told the judge she and her husband visit their daughter’s grave every day to say good morning and good night.

“The selfish actions of two men involved in this took everything from us,” she said. “No amount of time or reflection will ever erase the suffering they’ve caused.”

As Kalkbrenner, holding a picture of Samantha, neared the end of her statement, she turned to face defendant William Soliday, who kept his head down, crying throughout the proceedings.

“Look, Mr. Soliday,” she demanded, as he raised his eyes to meet hers. “I want you to see how beautiful my daughter was — what you took from us.”

Soliday, 44, of North Huntingdon was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer.

Instead, he pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for killing Samantha Kalkbrenner. Police said he and another man were racing at speeds of more than 100 mph on a suburban street before Soliday struck a school van carrying Samantha and three classmates.

The plea agreement called for a prison term for Soliday of 5½ to 12 years in state prison.

“You stole her from so many people that loved her,” Beemer said before imposing sentence.

‘If you knew her, you loved her’

Around 7:20 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2023 — a Wednesday — Soliday was driving his white Volkswagen Jetta to his job at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin.

At some point, police said, he came upon a co-worker, Andrew Voigt, 56, of Penn Hills, who was on his way to work in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the two began racing.

Other drivers told police the men sped across the Mansfield Bridge. The event data recorder in Soliday’s vehicle — like a black box — showed that he hit a top speed of 107 mph just moments before striking the van taking Samantha to Serra Catholic High School.

Soliday braked 1.5 seconds before impact. He was traveling at 90 mph when the vehicles collided.

Three students were thrown from the van. Samantha died at the scene.

Voigt, who was not involved in the crash, fled, police said. He told police he pulled over on the side of the road, “lost control of his bowels,” and vomited on himself.

He then drove home, changed clothes and took a different car to work.

Voigt has not agreed to plead guilty, and his case, which was also set for trial Tuesday, has been postponed.

Several of Samantha’s family members spoke before sentencing, including her parents, best friend and boyfriend.

“Samantha was as close to perfect as a child could get,” said her father, Carl Kalkbrenner. “She loved her life and everything in it.

“If you knew her, you loved her. That was the impact she had on this world.”

He called her “the best of all of us.”

“In the blink of an eye, that was taken away.”

‘Nothing feels the same’

Alonna Morton was one of the students on the van that morning. She was ejected through the rear, driver’s side window, the prosecutor said, and sustained a spinal fracture and concussion.

“Before Sept. 20, I was happy. I was fearless,” she told the court. “Now, nothing feels the same.”

Morton said the crash broke her spirit and stole her peace.

“The accident replays in my mind like a movie I can’t turn off,” she said. “I just wish he would have been more careful.”

Also testifying was Denise Boring, whose son, Cullen, was also in the van that day.

Cullen was ejected and landed on the burning hood of Soliday’s car. He was able to roll off the vehicle and run to the side of the road where he collapsed with a broken collarbone, burns and lacerations.

Denise Boring said when she first got to her son at the hospital that day, all he could say was, “‘Mom, Sam is trapped.’”

Later, when he could recount the details of the crash, Cullen told her that he was looking out the window of the van that morning and saw the car speeding toward them.

“He knew they were going to be hit before it happened,” his mom said. “When I asked him if he thought he was going to die, he said yes.”

While her son has physically healed, Denise Boring said he continues to struggle emotionally.

“As his mother, I worry, does he see the car coming toward him? Does he remember the intense heat under him? Does he hear the chaos around him?”

Alyssa Bevan, Samantha’s best friend, described to the court getting pulled out of her third-period class that morning to learn about the crash.

At 6:28 a.m. that day, the girls exchanged a TikTok video, and Bevan told Samantha, “You’re literally so perfect.” And Samantha responded, “I love you so much, Alyssa.”

“Those were the last words I heard from my best friend.”

Bevan told the court that Samantha, who was in tenth grade, was a cheerleader, and the two of them attended dance classes together.

Bevan said she missed the sleepovers, late-night snacks and FaceTime calls with the girl she considered her soul sister.

“We will always have a hole in our heart that will never be filled.”

Since the crash, she said, she’s tried to blame God and to think the crash happened for a reason.

But, she continued, it came down to Soliday’s decision to speed.

“It all got taken away so quickly because of a reckless decision by two grown adults,” Bevan said.

Tyler Sapida said Samantha was both his best friend and his girlfriend.

“Sam had the brightest smile and could turn the worst day into the best,” he said.

They were supposed to graduate together. Now, he said, he tries to live in a way that will honor her legacy.

“Even in the pain, there’s a sense of joy for having known and loved Sam.”

‘Not a monster’

Defense attorney Casey White called three witnesses on behalf of his client, including Pastor Aaron Garber, who has met with Soliday in the jail weekly for a year and a half.

During their visits, Garber said that Soliday questions why Samantha died but he lived. They also pray for the Kalkbrenner family — primarily for justice, Garber said.

He said that Soliday has vowed to become a man of grace and charity.

“He is anxious for growth and love toward others,” Garber said. “He knows nothing he does can make things right.”

Soliday’s wife, Flanna Soliday, also spoke on her husband’s behalf.

She began by apologizing to Samantha’s loved ones.

“My husband is human. He is flawed, and he made a mistake,” Flanna Soliday said. “He is not a monster.”

She told the court she will never forget the look on her husband’s face when he woke up in the hospital with no memory of the crash, and she told him Samantha died.

“He’s deeply and genuinely sorry for all of this pain he has caused all of you.”

Soliday, who sat at counsel table wearing a lime green jail uniform and crying throughout the hearing, apologized for his actions.

“I’m deeply sorry for the loss of Samantha. There are no words to ease the pain I’ve caused your family,” Soliday said. “I carry immense sorrow and regret for my actions. I accept responsibility and hope it gives you even a small amount of peace.”

Difficult sentencing

Prior to imposing the agreed-upon sentence, Beemer told those gathered in his courtroom and an overflow room watching a video stream that he received 47 victim-impact statements from people who loved Samantha.

He spoke about the loss endured not only by Samantha’s loved ones, but everyone else, as well.

“If you think about what that girl accomplished in 15 years, what the world has had taken from it in the years and decades to come.”

Beemer also said he, too, has a 15-year-old daughter.

“As parents, you hope your children find friends like Samantha Kalkbrenner,” Beemer said.

White said afterward it was one of the most difficult sentencing hearings he’s attended.

“I think justice was served for William Soliday, as well as Samantha Kalkbrenner.”

The case against Soliday, had it gone to trial, could have been more complex than originally expected.

Several months after the crash, officials learned that the driver of the school van, Richard Maleski, had cocaine in his system at the time.

No charges have been filed against him, and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office offered him immunity for his testimony against Soliday and Voigt.

Experts said, however, that Soliday’s defense attorney could have argued that that contributed to the cause of the crash.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct Andrew Voigt’s age. He is 56.