Two mothers are behind the momentum for 'Aspen Runnels Law'
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio - The young life of 15-year-old Aspen Runnels was tragically cut short nearly two years ago when a distracted, speeding driver hit and killed him with a pickup truck in a crosswalk outside Lakota East Freshman School.
to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular homicide, apologized to his family in court and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and then 60 days of house arrest. She was also ordered to perform 250 hours of community service, pay $1,174.75 in restitution and her license was suspended for five years. But that didn’t feel like justice to Aspen’s mother, so she teamed up with another mother, Trisha Parnell, whose daughter Maddy was struck and seriously hurt by a vehicle outside Lakota West High School in 2018, to try to prevent similar tragedies. “He was hit by a driver who was distracted and speeding, and she got a misdemeanor charge for vehicular homicide,” Christina Alcorn, Aspen’s mother, said. “If somebody gets hit in a construction zone and it’s an automatic felony, why isn’t it the same in a school zone?”Alcorn and Parnell continue to fight for justice after both of their children were hit in school zones, one fatally.Aspen Runnels Law seeks to deter reckless driving in school zones, enhance safety, and impose stricter jail sentences and fines for traffic violations, similar to laws for construction zones. This will now raise the charge of vehicular homicide while speeding to a felony with a mandatory sentence of six to 18 months in prison and fines of up to $5,000. Those convicted of vehicular assault could face a mandatory six to 12 months in prison and a fine of up to $2,500, a significant increase from the current penalties.“His charges didn’t even say that he hit somebody. He got ‘failure to yield in a crosswalk and speeding in a school zone,’ and he could drive a car the next day, and my daughter couldn’t walk for two months,” Parnell said.Aspen Runnels Law heads next to Ohio Senate Alcorn and Parnell said Lakota schools have since made several changes in the district to improve pedestrian safety.But both moms agree that more needs to be done across the state to make sure no parent has to receive the phone calls they both did. House Bill 203 also doubles fines for traffic violations in school-adjacent sectors, defined as crosswalks next to schools used to access the buildings and the area surrounded by school property on both sides of the street or highway The bill now heads to the Senate, where Alcorn and Parnell will continue to lobby lawmakers until it’s approved there and then signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine.East Canton shuts down unlicensed day care facility after 8-month-old baby diesFentanyl found inside Barbies sold at discount store, police sayFormer East Cleveland police chief indicted on 31 counts
Fox19 19 Fox News Channel Cincinnati West Chester Lakota Lakota West Lakota East Lakota Local Schools Aspen Runnels Kaitlyn Hyde Christina Alcorn Thomas Hall Representative Thomas Hall Congress Ohio House Of Representatives Trisha Parnell ‘Aspen Runnels Law’: Bill Named For Lakota Student Aspen Dylan Runnels Lakota East Freshman School Lakota West High School Maddy Moms Push For Safer School Zones State Rep Thomas Hall Is Main Sponsor Of Aspen Run Aspen Runnels Law Death Of Lakota Student Prompts Ohio House To Pass
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