Union Bridge woman awaits sentencing for hitting woman with car
Dec. 21—A Union Bridge woman accused of hitting her ex-boyfriend's girlfriend with a rental car in July, leaving her in critical condition, entered an Alford plea on Tuesday to a charge of first-degree assault.
An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but acknowledges that state prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.
Chelsea Kendall, 39, was originally charged with first- and second-degree assault, failure to immediately stop a vehicle at the scene of an accident involving bodily injury, and failure to return and remain at the scene of an accident involving bodily injury, charging documents say.
After entering the plea to first-degree assault, the remaining charges were dropped.
Kendall's attorney, Elizabeth Jung, declined to comment after the hearing.
Jami Cornell, the woman who Kendall struck with her car, was present at the hearing, along with her mother, Fran Cornell.
The barrel racing community held a benefit barrel racing event in August to raise money for Jami's medical expenses. Jami is a competitive barrel racer.
Jami sustained severe injuries in the incident. In August, Jami's mother told the News-Post that Jami had emergency brain surgery. Jami also had problems swallowing and moving the left side of her face, her mother said.
Her mother documented Jami's recovery on Facebook.
At Tuesday's hearing, Jami and Fran Cornell sat next to each other. Once Assistant State's Attorney Catherine McDermid began reading aloud what happened during the incident, Jami began to sob and shake her head.
Chris Quasebarth, who represented the Cornell family, declined to comment after the hearing.
Jung requested that Frederick County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen English postpone Kendall's sentencing, which she did. Kendall is scheduled to be sentenced on March 24, 2023.
At around 9 p.m. on July 13, Frederick County sheriff's deputies responded to the intersection of Black Ankle Road and Unionville Road in Union Bridge for a report of a person intentionally struck by a vehicle, according to charging documents.
At the scene, deputies found Jami Cornell lying on the road bleeding with tire marks on her chest, according to charging documents. Cornell was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.
According to charging documents, Kendall and her ex-boyfriend were talking earlier on July 13, and he later went to meet her. Kendall then sent a message to Cornell, the current girlfriend at the time, that he was back with her.
Later in the day, Kendall drove to her ex-boyfriend's residence on Black Ankle Road. Cornell and her boyfriend were driving to go get cigarettes, when they encountered Kendall at the intersection of Black Ankle and Unionville roads, charging documents said.
The two women got out of their cars at the intersection and exchanged words.
After that confrontation, charging documents said, Kendall got back in her car.
During the hearing, McDermid said Kendall drove forward, then reversed and swerved, hitting and driving over Cornell. Kendall fled the scene.
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Marshals Service found Kendall the next day at her home in Union Bridge and arrested her. The rental car that hit Cornell, a 2021 Toyota Camry, was found nearby.
Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel
