Father, son sentenced in crash that killed woman and her 2 dogs
Sometime after crashing into a woman and the two dogs she was walking, killing all three, Trevor Johnson called his father.
The 26-year-old's father, Richard Johnson, told him to put a cover on the BMW, clean it up and remove the license plate, prosecutors said.
Trevor Johnson did what his father suggested. But pieces of the BMW at the site of the fatal crash, including parts of the bumper, had the car's serial number, Assistant Prosecutor Caitlin Broo said Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. So eventually police were able to connect the covered up BMW to the crash.
The crash happened the night of Sept. 23, 2023 on Glenway Avenue in West Price Hill. It was dark, and Kymberly Maclary, 33, and the two dogs she was walking were in a marked crosswalk. Maclary, however, was crossing against the light and didn't have the right of way.
Trevor Johnson, who pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crash and vehicular homicide, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison. His 49-year-old father, who pleaded guilty to obstructing justice, was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
During Monday's sentencing, Johnson sobbed, and his father wrapped an arm around him. The 26-year-old read from a handwritten statement, apologizing and saying he has nightmares about the crash. He said he will never be able to forgive himself.
After Judge Chris Wagner imposed the sentences, as a sheriff's deputy led Johnson out the courtroom in handcuffs, he said, "(expletive) you." It wasn't clear to whom he was directing the comment.
Johnson's attorney, Richard Goldberg, said in court that the outcome of the case likely would have been different, if he had stayed at the scene.
Goldberg said his client was "marginally negligent" and not reckless.
"Had Trevor Johnson stopped after this happened, at most, he would have been given a ticket," Goldberg said. "He made a foolish decision to leave the scene."
Broo pointed out that Trevor Johnson has a drug addiction history. He told officials that at the time of the crash he was smoking marijuana twice a day and using heroin, Broo said. He is now taking methadone six days a week.
He also has a history of seizures, dating back to when he was 17 and suffered a head injury in a fall.
Broo said Trevor Johnson's history of seizures and the fact that he was an active drug user meant he "shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a car, period."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Father, son sentenced in crash that killed woman and her 2 dogs
