The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Woman sentenced for fatal crash
There’s a reason they call it Calamity Curve, Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Eugene Lucci said.
But it’s less calamitous when you’re not drinking and driving, added Lake County Assistant Prosecutor Rocco DiPierro Jr.
Autumn Baker, 24, of Painesville was sentenced to six years in prison July 18 for causing a fatal Paineville Township crash that killed 53-year-old Geneva resident Gwendolyn Tingley in August 2017.
At 10:25 p.m. Aug. 19, a 2005 Mercury Mountaineer driven by Baker was traveling east on Route 20 when it failed to yield while making a left turn onto Mantle Road, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol.
The Mercury Mountaineer struck an oncoming 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Christopher Hopkins, 34, of Geneva, who was traveling west on Route 20.
The Cavalier had four other occupants, Tingley and three of her grandchildren.
After striking the Cavalier, the Mountaineer hit a 1998 Ford Expedition that was stopped at a stop sign on Mantle Road.
Painesville Fire & EMS responded to the crash scene. Baker was transported to TriPoint Medical Center for treatment of non-incapacitating injuries.
Tingley also was taken by Painesville EMS to TriPoint, where she was pronounced dead.
The three children were transported by EMS to TriPoint for non-life-threatening injuries and eventually flown via medical helicopter to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. One of the children sustained a fracture in the pelvic area.
The other drivers were not injured in the crash.
In June, Baker pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Baker’s attorney, Timothy Kucharski, asked Lucci at the July 18 sentencing for a threeor four-year sentence for his client. She faced a maximum of 13 ½ years in prison. She had no previous history of alcohol or drug abuse and had never previous faced felony charges.
Baker was the co-valedictorian of her high school class and went to college to pursue a career as a corporate attorney. Those plans were put on hold, however, as she returned home to help her parents with their health issues. She was going to return to school to become a nurse practitioner.
She apologized to the victim’s family at her sentencing.
“If I could turn back the hands of time, I wish none of this would have ever happened,” Baker told the family in between tears. “I can’t even begin to imagine how it feels to lose a loved one.”
Baker turned 24 just days after the crash and said it didn’t feel right celebrating another birthday when Tingley would never be able to see another one.
“If anything I wish it could have been me instead of her,” Baker said.
DiPierro asked Lucci for a seven-year sentence for Baker because the minimum, and even three or four years, demeans the seriousness of the incident.
“(Drunk driving) is something that has been addressed proactively in our community because every time someone drinks and drives what happened here is a distinct possibility,” DiPierro said.
Lucci said he believed that Baker was genuinely remorseful and seemed like a good kid who became a good adult.
“She made a mistake, but unfortunately some mistakes are called crimes,” Lucci said.