Dayton husband mourns wife killed in RTA bus crash

The husband of a woman who police say was hit and killed by an RTA bus in downtown Dayton said he is disappointed but understands why prosecutors elected to file a misdemeanor charge against the driver.

Woody Willis said he met Lynn Willis in 1981 and said that she was a dedicated public servant who loved her family.

“People who knew her know she was very friendly and loyal,” Woody Willis said. “She had a lot of people who considered her their best friend.”

Last month, city prosecutors filed a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge against Sean Belyeu, 53, in Dayton Municipal Court. He pleaded not guilty and is due back in court in September for a pretrial hearing.

The Dayton city prosecutor’s office said that Belyeu could face 90 days in jail and a $750 fine, if convicted. Belyeu is accused of driving a bus on March 10 that hit and killed Lynn Willis as she crossed Third Street.

Woody Willis said the 90 days in jail isn’t a long time and that by the time negotiations are finished, Belyeu could receive an even lighter sentence. But he understands that there are potential mitigating factors like it being dark and rainy at the time of the accident.

But still, he said it’s tough for him to understand how the driver didn’t see her as she was hit using a cross-walk on a one-way street to get to her job at the Social Security Administration office at the Federal Courthouse.

Woody Willis said he misses his wife. He said over the last four years she spent a large part of her time taking care of her late mother and she was just coming out of the grief of losing her mom.

“You can’t calculate what was taken from her,” Woody Willis said. “She should have been able to live out her life without very many problems.”

Woody Willis said her niece just had a baby and Lynn Willis planned to be part of the child’s life.

“She wanted to be there. When I get sad, it’s usually about things like that. Just realizing what was robbed from her,” he said.

Contact this reporter at 937610-7441 or email parker. perry@coxinc.com.

Woody Willis, the husband of Lynn Willis, tells the Dayton Daily News that his wife was a caring, loving person.