Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 6, 1994 TAG: 9408080029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A grand jury in Pickaway County, Ohio, on Friday indicted Matthew A. Schultz, 27, on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide in the July 24 death of Ilse-Marie Morgan, 54, of Bedford County.
If convicted, Schultz faces four to 25 years in prison, because the charge is a nonprobationary offense under Ohio law, said Pickaway County Sheriff's Lt. Bill Brown.
"It's the most serious offense you can be charged with in Ohio, except for [capital] murder," Brown said.
The grand jury also indicted Schultz on four traffic charges: operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, reckless operation, driving left of center and failure to wear a seat belt, Brown said.
Morgan's family, still grieving over her death, reacted to the indictment with relief. They feared felony charges might not be brought because Schultz comes from a prominent family that has retained a top-notch Ohio defense lawyer to represent him. The lawyer, James Kingsley, could not be reached for comment.
"We're pleased. We were scared that he was going to get off with a misdemeanor charge. I'm glad to see they're going after him as hard as they can," said Angela Sumner of Burlington, N.C., Morgan's daughter.
"I certainly hope he'll take responsibility for what he's done," said Morgan's other daughter, Michelle Dalton of Farmville.
"Everybody in the family is hopeful of obtaining some kind of criminal punishment," said Morgan's fiance, William "Chris" Kidd Jr., who survived the crash. "We know he didn't mean it, but that doesn't lessen the impact of what he did."
The crash occurred on a Sunday morning on a rural, two-lane highway outside Circleville, a farming community of 11,000 people about 30 miles south of Columbus.
Morgan, an agent with Boone & Co. Realtors, was returning to Virginia with Kidd after visiting his sister, who lives in Ohio.
Schultz was driving west on Ohio 56 when his pickup truck collided head-on with Morgan's car. Morgan was pronounced dead at the scene. Kidd, in the passenger seat, sustained only minor injuries, as did Schultz.
Schultz, who has one drunken-driving conviction and a litany of other violations on his driving record, told police after the accident that he'd had 16 beers in the hours before the crash.
Police declined to reveal the results of blood-alcohol tests performed on him. But the grand jury wouldn't have indicted the construction worker on a drunken-driving charge unless his blood alcohol level was at least 0.10 percent, the minimum in Ohio at which a driver is presumed intoxicated, Brown said.
In Virginia, a driver is presumed drunk when the concentration of alcohol in his blood is 0.08 percent or greater.
A native of Germany, Morgan moved to Virginia in 1972. She had lived in the Roanoke Valley since 1977, and began selling real estate in 1980. She joined Boone & Co. in 1983 and had been a top-selling agent for them since. Kidd also is an agent with the real estate company.
They were to be married in Germany next month, on her mother's 76th birthday.
Kidd said he, Dalton and Sumner are pursuing a civil action against Schultz in Morgan's death.
Sumner said she and her sister will be in court when Schultz is arraigned later this month.
"He can forget my mother, because he never knew her. But he's going to know me. Me and my sister are going to be standing there in the courtroom," Sumner said.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB