43
Driver in hit-skip accident sentenced to 4 years in prison plus probation
The driver and his companion fled the scene, leaving his car behind.
YOUNGSTOWN — The sister of a man killed in a hit-skip accident says she can’t erase the vivid image of her brother, dead on a South Side sidewalk after being fatally struck earlier this year.
Valencia Marrow, sister of Shelton Harris, 57, of Sherwood Avenue, made a statement about her brother’s death during a sentencing hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for Justin Clark, 20, of West Ravenwood Avenue.
Clark pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident after striking Harris with his car in July.
Harris was riding his bicycle along Hudson Avenue about 10 a.m. July 6 when he was struck by a blue Oldsmobile Cutlass. He was carried about 200 feet from the impact of the collision.
Clark was driving the Oldsmobile at the time. He and a female companion got out of the car, walked over to Harris as he lay on the pavement, then ran away from the scene — leaving the car.
Clark appeared Wednesday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum for sentencing on felony charges of failure to stop after an accident.
Judge Krichbaum sentenced Clark to four years in prison as recommended by prosecutors. Clark will also serve three years on probation upon his release from prison.
The judge, before sentencing and before any statements, asked J. Michael Thompson, a county prosecutor, why Clark had not been charged with negligent or vehicular homicide.
Thompson explained to the court that evidence supporting Clark’s erratic driving was weak.
He also said the victim may have been riding his bicycle in the center of the street and had marijuana in his system at the time of his death.
Thompson did tell the court that it is believed that Clark was traveling at up to 70 mph in a 25 mph zone at the time of the accident.
Atty. Ronald Knickerbocker, representing Clark, said there is no evidence to support erratic driving on the part of his client.
He also said witnesses told police Harris was known to smoke marijuana and ride his bicycle however he pleased without regard for traffic laws.
Knickerbocker called the accident tragic but pointed out to the court that his 20-year-old client does not have an adult criminal record.
For Marrow, the memories of her brother, before and after the accident, are what matters most.
She recalled for the court arriving at the scene of her brother’s death.
“When I arrived at the scene, my brother lay dead on the sidewalk covered in a sheet. ... I have to live with the memory of my brother being moved from the sidewalk and the fire department washing away his blood. It has been five months, and I cannot shake that vivid memory,” she said.
Marrow, in asking the court for a stiff justice, said the family considered a closed-coffin funeral because of Harris’ extensive injuries.
Clark, before sentencing, apologized and told the court he knew it was wrong to leave the scene of the accident but did so because he got scared and panicked.
Clark had no driving privileges at the time of the accident.
Judge Krichbaum told Clark he simply could not understand how he could leave a man bloody and dying on the sidewalk after an accident in which he had been involved.
“That’s something that is unforgiveable. That is inexplicable that you would do that. Anyone with a heart would have tried to help the guy. This is something that I don’t understand,” the judge said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com