ESSEX—A wrong-way drunk driver who police say caused a 2025 crash that killed a young mother was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday.

Ryan A. Hedge, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of felony negligent vehicular homicide in connection with the Aug. 31, 2025, crash that killed Melody Bass, 21.

Bass was in the front passenger seat of her 2019 Nissan Sentra when a 2013 Ford Escape driven by Hedge struck the car head-on. The collision happened just before midnight on the northbound Maryland Route 702 on-ramp to the inner loop of Interstate 695.

Angelo Carter, 26, who was driving Bass's car at the time of the crash, also has been charged in connection with the collision. According to court records, Carter is charged with negligent vehicular homicide while under the influence, homicide by motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol, driving on a suspended license and related offenses. Carter has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 8.

Hedge was injured in the collision and suffered a hip injury that required surgery. According to the prosecution, his blood alcohol concentration was measured at .23 about 20 minutes after the crash. The legal limit for driving in Maryland is .08.

Judge Bailey sentenced Hedge to 15 years in prison with all but 10 years suspended. She also ordered him to pay more than $32,000 in restitution and serve five years of supervised probation after his release.

At Hedge's June 1 plea hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Felise Kelly told Judge Sherrie Bailey that a Maryland State Police investigation found Hedge at fault for causing the collision by driving the wrong way on the roadway while under the influence.

Kelly said a 911 caller had reported seeing a wrong-way driver in the area less than a minute before the crash, but police were unable to respond in time to prevent the collision. A crash investigation found Hedge was driving 55 mph five seconds before the crash, she said.

At Tuesday's sentencing hearing in Baltimore County Circuit Court, Bass's family members read emotional victim impact statements describing a young woman they said was a bright light who was building a promising life for herself and her then-3-year-old son, whom she adored.

Over the course of two hours, family members told Bailey about the remarkable young woman she was.

"Melody was absolutely beautiful inside and out," her mother Karen Bass said. "She was calm, gentle, loving, and peaceful. She had a spirit that made everyone feel like they mattered. When Mel entered a room, her light illuminated the lives of everyone around her. She loved deeply and unconditionally."

They described how she became a mother at a young age and graduated from high school proudly carrying her baby boy across the stage. After graduation, she attended cosmetology school and became a talented hairstylist who also made wigs, a skill inspired by her mother, who suffers from alopecia. They said she had been looking forward to her son's first day of pre-K.

Family members spoke of going to her apartment after her death and finding the school supplies she had purchased in anticipation of her son's first day of school, neatly organized and labeled by the door.

“She was never able to witness his first day of pre-K. She never got to open his school supplies with him as it was still packed up in her apartment…still waiting for a mother-and-son moment that would never happen,” said her brother, K. Barnes, an officer with the Baltimore County Police Department.

Barnes said when he heard loud knocking at the door the night his sister died, he quickly put on his bulletproof vest and grabbed his gun.

“I thought I was going to an emergency,” he said. “But really what I needed at that moment was something to protect my heart from a wound no bullet from a suspect could ever compare to.”

Hedge will be released from incarceration, Kelly said but "Melody’s son will never have his mother. The people in this courtroom will never have Melody back. It is a profound sadness that hangs over the hearing today.”

Kelly cited Hedge's criminal history, which includes convictions for two previous DUI offense, second-degree assault, drug possession, and another traffic incident in which alcohol was reportedly involved.

“He has been ordered to treatment since he was 18 years old, and that treatment has ultimately failed,” Kelly said. “And that failure resulted in the death of Melody Bass.”

Hedge's mother, Kathleen Hedge, said her son has struggled with alcohol dependency from a young age and has had limited success with treatment. She said he is a responsible young man who puts his family's and others' needs before his own, helping financially when the family has struggled and buying his own home through hard work as a manager at McCarthy Tire Service. She asked the judge to see her son's potential “and to see that he is not just another soul lost to addiction and substance abuse.”

“This tragedy is going to haunt him for the rest of his life,” she said.

Hedge addressed Bass's family and expressed deep remorse for his actions. He apologized for the pain and suffering he has caused.

“I do not expect forgiveness nor do I deserve it,” he said through tears. “If I could go back and change my decision to drive that night, if I could switch places with Melody, I would in a heartbeat.”

Before he was sentenced, Hedge turned to face Bass's family and said tearfully, “I’m so sorry.”

Defense attorney Seth Okin said none of the three people involved in the collision should have been driving that night.

“Three people went out. Two people chose to drive. None of them should have been driving. And the smartest person, who happened to own the vehicle, gave the keys to someone else. And she paid the ultimate price,” Okin said.

Hedge will be eligible for parole after serving one-quarter of his sentence and will receive credit for the time he has been jailed since his arrest in December.