CLEVELAND -
A former RTA bus driver is behind bars after a jury found her guilty of vehicular homicide Wednesday afternoon for striking and killing a man crossing a downtown street.
Angela Williams, 50, escaped a more serious charge of aggravated vehicular homicide which could have sent her to prison for up to five years.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold sentenced Williams to the maximum penalty allowed for the misdemeanor...six months in jail.
"Your honor, she's getting six months?, she has no prior record," responded surprised defense attorney Rufus Sims.
Prosecutors contend Williams was talking on her cell phone when she struck and killed 59-year old Vietnam veteran Patrick Merrill as he crossed Ontario Street in downtown Cleveland in March.
"He made it home from a war, but didn't make it home from a leisurely day in downtown Cleveland, doing what he loved to do," Merrill's niece Melany Smythe told the judge.
Cell records show Williams phone placed a call around the time of the crash, but she says the phone may have dialed by mistake.
"Unfortunately accidents are a part of driving and unfortunately, they occur your honor,." Sims told the judge.
The jury's verdict indicates they did not believe Williams was talking on the phone or that prosecutors didn't prove it. Judge Saffold says she respects the verdict but felt Williams could not have been paying attention.
"There's no other logical reason after you look at that video, you had to have been distracted, she hit that man head on," said the judge.
"I'm satisfied with the jail time, I just do not want her behind the wheel of a bus ever again, because it's obvious that she wasn't paying attention," said Merrill's older brother, Tim.
"He was one of RTA's biggest supporters and to think that's what took his life," his mother told reporters after the hearing.
Williams lawyer plans to appeal her sentence.
"We think the six month sentence is unreasonable under these circumstances with this defendant, and also an abuse of your discretion as well," Sims told Judge Saffold as his client was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
Williams had originally agreed to plead guilty to the same charge that she was convicted of, but the judge would not allow it.
Judge Saffold also find Williams $1,000 and suspended her commercial driver's license for five years.
Angela Williams, 50, escaped a more serious charge of aggravated vehicular homicide which could have sent her to prison for up to five years.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold sentenced Williams to the maximum penalty allowed for the misdemeanor...six months in jail.
"Your honor, she's getting six months?, she has no prior record," responded surprised defense attorney Rufus Sims.
Prosecutors contend Williams was talking on her cell phone when she struck and killed 59-year old Vietnam veteran Patrick Merrill as he crossed Ontario Street in downtown Cleveland in March.
"He made it home from a war, but didn't make it home from a leisurely day in downtown Cleveland, doing what he loved to do," Merrill's niece Melany Smythe told the judge.
Cell records show Williams phone placed a call around the time of the crash, but she says the phone may have dialed by mistake.
"Unfortunately accidents are a part of driving and unfortunately, they occur your honor,." Sims told the judge.
The jury's verdict indicates they did not believe Williams was talking on the phone or that prosecutors didn't prove it. Judge Saffold says she respects the verdict but felt Williams could not have been paying attention.
"There's no other logical reason after you look at that video, you had to have been distracted, she hit that man head on," said the judge.
"I'm satisfied with the jail time, I just do not want her behind the wheel of a bus ever again, because it's obvious that she wasn't paying attention," said Merrill's older brother, Tim.
"He was one of RTA's biggest supporters and to think that's what took his life," his mother told reporters after the hearing.
Williams lawyer plans to appeal her sentence.
"We think the six month sentence is unreasonable under these circumstances with this defendant, and also an abuse of your discretion as well," Sims told Judge Saffold as his client was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
Williams had originally agreed to plead guilty to the same charge that she was convicted of, but the judge would not allow it.
Judge Saffold also find Williams $1,000 and suspended her commercial driver's license for five years.
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