ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A northwestern Pennsylvania man is on trial in the death of a 13-year-old girl struck along with another teenager as she crossed the road to board a school bus two years ago.
Tyler Festa, 21, is charged with homicide by vehicle as well as involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangering in Erie County in the December 2011 death of Ashley Clark in Summit Township.
Prosecutors argue that Festa should have stopped once he saw the flashing amber lights on the school bus as it slowed down. District Attorney Jack Daneri argued Monday that the defendant, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Hamot orderly who lived in Union City at the time, was worried about being late to work.
Festa’s actions “by ignoring what the yellow lights meant and not hitting the brakes until it was truly too late, amounted to reckless conduct,” Daneri said.
Defense attorney Peter Sala called the crash a tragic accident due in part to “an inherently dangerous bus stop.” He said his client was traveling well below the posted speed limit and was unable to stop in time when the students crossed the street illegally to reach the bus before it had stopped.
“He tried to stop. He couldn’t stop in time. That does not make him guilty of homicide or involuntary manslaughter,” Sala said.
The opening of proceedings follows a long pretrial dispute over whether there was enough evidence for the case to be heard by a jury.
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Information from: Erie Times-News, https://www.goerie.com
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