The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Man gets 8 years for death of Lorain woman
Strongsville man ran over victim near Lorain County Fairgrounds
A 61-year-old Strongsville man is headed to prison for causing the Aug. 28 death of a Lorain woman near the Lorain County Fairgrounds.
Gregg A. Box learned Feb. 27 he will spend the next eight years behind bars for striking and killing Linda Marie Velez, 38, with his car.
Box pleaded guilty Jan. 23 to two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of OVI and single counts of failure to stop and stopping after an accident.
Authorities said he was driving drunk when he struck Velez near the fairgrounds and then fled the scene, causing two more crashes before he was captured.
Before Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge John R. Miraldi handed down Box’s sentence, Velez’s sister-in-law Elsie Velez told the court of the pain Box caused her family.
“It’s difficult to describe so many emotions that have accompanied the hole in our hearts that is sometimes felt, while at other times, there is only
“I feel horrible for this. Sorry doesn’t take away your pain and suffering. I wish there was a way I could fix this. I wish I were the one taken away instead of your loved one.”
— Gregg A. Box
emptiness and numbness,” Elsie Velez said. “We are completely overwhelmed; sometimes we can cry, sometimes it is very frustrating. Frequently, it is hard to believe that any of this is real.”
On the day of the incident, she said her family was holding its annual get-together at the fair.
When Linda Velez was hit, she was pushing her elderly father’s wheelchair to their car, Elsie Velez said.
“Suddenly, Linda was in the air,” Elsie Velez said. “You didn’t even attempt to slow down as the force of your windshield struck her and her body bounced hard down onto the street.”
Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Gauthier said this case was different from other vehicular manslaughter cases.
Gauthier said the victim was a pedestrian and it was more egregious than other similar cases.
“Here, Linda was a pedestrian pushing a wheelchair, of all things, trying to get to the parking lot leaving the county fair,” he said. “The defendant wanted to get around a car that was in front of him.
“So, he revved the engine of a brand new car that he had just gotten, I think, earlier that day and mowed her down; literally ran over Linda Velez.”
Box faced Velez’s family as he read his own statement.
After initially calling her by the wrong name, he expressed remorse.
“Don’t think I don’t feel remorse, because I do,” Box said. “I feel horrible for this. Sorry doesn’t take away your pain and suffering. I wish there was a way I could fix this. I wish I were the one taken away instead of your loved one.”
Miraldi highlighted the struggle between the punishments laid out in the law and the victim’s family’s desire for justice.
He mentioned that Box had no previous drunken driving charges against him.
After the sentence was read, Evelyn Roach Velez, the victim’s niece, said she felt the justice system failed her aunt and justice was not served.