Driver of deadly Salem hit-skip sentenced to 1 year in prison | News, Sports, Jobs

Brandy Lynn Lasky

LISBON — A Salem woman who failed to stop after a 2022 crash that killed Brandy Lynn Lasky along State Route 344 was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months in prison, as well as a three-year suspension of his driving license.

“We are extremely disappointed” Eric Lasky, Brandy's older brother, said after the sentencing hearing.

Family members of the victim and the defendant, Patricia Lynn Phillips, 30, Vine Street, Salem, filled Judge Scott Washam's courtroom in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. Eric and his sister's three children all addressed the judge. Family members also held a large photo of Brandy Lynn Lasky for all to see.

Washam gave a lower sentence than prosecutors requested, noting that he took into account everything that was said.

“I would like to apologize to his family. I know it will never be enough. Patricia Phillips said during her statement. “If I could go back and change things, I would. »

She admitted to not being able to function at times, but said “I can’t imagine what his family is going through.”

She was charged last year with a third-degree felony for failure to stop after an accident for failing to stop immediately after striking Brandy Lynn Lasky, 46, on State Route 344 on March 11. 2022. Lasky was walking in the westbound lane after midnight when the crash occurred. Patricia Phillips left the scene, thinking she had hit a deer, but she did not stop or get out to check. Her sister, Brandy Phillips, 31, was in another vehicle and informed Patricia that she had hit a person. Earlier this year, she was placed on community control and had to serve three days in jail, with credit for one day served, for obstruction of justice related to her actions.

According to the indictment, Patricia Phillips was driving a 2005 Ford F-350 registered to Brandon Seddon when the crash occurred.

“She left Mrs. Lasky on the side of the road to die alone,” said Assistant County Attorney Tammie Riley Jones, noting that another woman driving on that stretch of road outside Salem saw something and stopped, finding the victim, calling for help and giving him help. “She did everything this defendant should have done.”

Jones questioned some information in the sentencing memorandum filled out by the defense, which said the victim wore dark clothing, ran in front of the truck and that Patricia Phillips thought she hit a deer. She showed a photo of Brandy Lynn Lasky wearing brightly colored pants and said the woman who stopped to help saw something even thought it was dark. Speaking about the possibility of reoffending, Jones said Patricia Phillips had a drinking habit, with video from the Tipsy Cow bar in Leetonia where she worked just before the accident showing her drinking shots while while serving drinks. She also said that while awaiting sentencing in this case, she was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs and a turn signal violation at 1:46 a.m. on May 4 in Salem. This case remains pending in county municipal court, with a pretrial date of Aug. 15.

Jones, who represented the state before Deputy County Attorney Steve Yacovone, recommended the maximum possible sentence for the charge, three years in prison, plus a three-year license suspension.

Defense attorney Lynn Maro asked the judge to grant Patricia Phillips community control or probation, telling the judge she had no malicious intent to kill anyone when she got into the vehicle to leave work. She referenced the video of Patricia Phillips at work, saying there was no indication of impairment. The patrol's accident reconstructionist said that at the point of impact, the victim was in the middle of the road. She was wearing a dark hoodie with the hood up.

Maro said Patricia Phillips accepted responsibility for the accident when she learned she had hit a person. She surrendered and voluntarily brought the vehicle to authorities. Two different calls were also made to 911. She described how her client was struggling and trying to move on and have children and a family.

“She tried to do the right thing from the moment she realized what had happened” Maro said.

The victim's youngest daughter, Arissa Pace, described how she learned her mother was gone and her grandparents had woken her up. She was days away from her 19th birthday when her mother was killed.

“She can’t give me motherly advice on how to live life. » she says.

His son, JT Pace, was 20 at the time of his death and described how he became depressed, couldn't sleep and thought about suicide. In the month after her death, he realized he would never be able to hold her again. He questioned why the defendant did not stop or call an ambulance to help his mother.

“She didn’t deserve to be left on the side of the road.” he said.

The victim's oldest daughter, Haley Brock, spoke about the phone call she received from a state trooper and the words that haunted her about the drag marks.

“I have a hole in my heart that I can’t heal.” she says.

Eric Lasky said he saw his sister go to the U.S. Navy and work in IT. He described her as a wife, mother and friend to many. She was also a grandmother. She feared God, loved him and was generous.

“She was taken far too soon” he said.

A 1994 graduate of Salem High School, she served five years in the Navy, married and had three extraordinary children and spent much of her life in North Carolina, he said. In 2018, she returned to the Salem area.

He thanked God that the passerby who had stopped to help his sister was there. He said Patricia Phillips didn't stop, didn't call for help, just left her on the side of the road. And he said she learned nothing of the accusations against her. But he also said: “I forgive him.”

Yacovone and Jones thanked the Ohio State Highway Patrol, his own prosecutor's office investigators and the victims' attorney for all their work. Yacovone said the grand jury issued the charge based on the evidence presented.

Eric Lasky thanked OSHP and the prosecutor's office.

The outcome was not what the family expected, but he said “Now we will heal and move on.”