Antwerp woman sentenced to 12 years in prison for running over, killing boyfriend

Jul. 27—WATERTOWN — An Antwerp woman was sentenced Wednesday in Jefferson County Court to 12 years in state prison for running over her boyfriend with a car and killing him in 2018.

Nicole M. Lacey, 31, was sentenced after being convicted at trial May 24 of three of the four charges levied against her, including first-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the death of Jared C. Cook. She was acquitted of a count of first-degree reckless endangerment.

Mr. Cook, 28, suffered serious blunt force trauma to his head, including a skull fracture, when Ms. Lacey struck him on May 30, 2018, with a 2004 Chevrolet Impala at their home in Antwerp. He was taken to Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, where he died three days later. Ms. Lacey was not charged in the incident until being arrested by Jefferson County sheriff's deputies on June 18, 2020.

Testimony at trial indicated that Ms. Lacey told investigators that she did not know how Mr. Cook became injured, stating that she had returned to the residence after a trip to Gouverneur and found him lying in the driveway. She told three people that the injuries could have occurred in a fall, according to testimony.

However, testimony provided by sheriff's Sgt. Benjamin K. Timerman, who was a detective in 2018 and spent hundreds of hours investigating the case and who produced a 31-page report on the investigation, showed that Mr. Cook had been run over by the Impala. Prosecutors maintained that the act had been intentional and jurors deliberated for about three hours before convicting Ms. Lacey of the crime.

In addition to the prison term, Ms. Lacey was also ordered to undergo five additional years of supervision upon her release when sentenced Wednesday.