Cortland man pleads guilty in woman’s death

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

The Cortland man charged with hitting and killing a young woman jogging or walking along Ridge Road in Fowler Township on Feb. 27, 2016, pleaded guilty Monday to all charges.

Russell G. Lauer III, 44, of state Route 5 appeared before Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Monday and changed his plea to guilty. Prosecutors will recommend eight years in prison when he is sentenced in about five weeks.

Lauer has been in the county jail since shortly after the crash that killed Brittany Szwedko, 28, of Cortland. She died two days after the accident.

“I’m happy with it to hear him say ‘guilty,’” Mary Kay Szwedko, Brittany’s mother, told reporters after the hearing. “That’s what I was waiting for.” She and her fiance, Dan Lanese, attended the hearing.

“We’ll be able to move on now after the sentencing,” she said.

Lauer pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, failing to stop after an accident and failing to drive in marked lanes. Those charges could carry a penalty of 11 years in prison.

At the time of her death, Szwedko had worked 10 years in the public-relations department of the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library. She was an avid runner and was preparing to run in a half marathon.

Her family organized a run in her memory last year that raised more than $20,000, Mary Kay Szwedko said. The run will take place again this year at 9 a.m. Sept. 10 at Austintown Township Park on Kirk Road. It’s called the Brittany Szwedko Memorial 5K Run and Dog Walk.

Court documents say Lauer’s car was traveling northbound on Ridge Road at 12:30 p.m. when it left the roadway and struck Szwedko beside the road. Lauer’s blood-alcohol level was measured at just below the 0.08 limit for intoxication under Ohio law. Officials have said Lauer had an illegal amount of OxyContin in his system.

Ricky L. Bryant Jr. of Vienna was a passenger in a car driven by his wife when they saw Lauer’s car “swerving and leaving the roadway” before hitting Szwedko, police said.

Bryant told his wife to stop at the accident scene, where he flagged down a passing motorist to call 911 and stay with Szwedko. Then he and his wife drove in pursuit of Lauer, police said.

When they caught up to Lauer, Bryant forced him to stop at an intersection and yelled at Lauer, telling him he had just hit someone.

“Yeah, I know. Move,” Lauer reportedly told Bryant.