Man charged in Barker woman's 2022 traffic death pleads guilty
Jan. 24—The man charged in the 2022 motor vehicle death of a Barker woman pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide Tuesday.
William C. Giambelluca, 43, address not provided, faces a prison term of 1-1/2 to 3 years for his role in the death of Judith Schultz, 72.
According to investigators from the New York State Police and the Niagara County District Attorney's Office Vehicular Crimes Bureau, the vehicle that Giambelluca was driving rammed into Schultz's vehicle as she waited in the median lane on South Transit to make a left-hand turn onto Bartz Road on Dec. 5, 2022. Giambelluca was speeding on the median and made no effort to slow his vehicle or avoid Schultz's vehicle, the DA's office found.
"Ms. Schultz was simply going about her ordinary business when her life was tragically ended by this defendant's total disregard for those around him," District Attorney Brian D. Seaman said. "He will spend the next several years of his life in prison, but that is a small recompense for the loss of a life. In this case the law simply does not afford a sentence that is commensurate with the results of this defendant's actions."
Giambelluca is scheduled to be sentenced March 26 by County Court Judge Caroline Wojtaszek. His sentence for criminally negligent homicide is to be served consecutively to an undischarged parole sentence for a 2018 burglary conviction, the DA's office said.
