LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The woman accused of hitting and killing a 15-year-old walking between Lakota East's freshman campus and high school in May pleaded not guilty to charges on Wednesday.
Kaitlyn Hyde has been charged with one count of vehicular homicide for the death of Aspen Runnels. Officials said Runnels was hit while in the crosswalk at the intersection of Bethany Road and Liberty Court just after 2 p.m. on May 15.
A crash report states Hyde, driving a pickup truck, failed to yield the right of way to Runnels, hitting him.
The crash report also says Hyde told officials she had looked away from the road to adjust her baby's pacifier when the crash happened. The report listed her speed at around 30 mph at the time Runnels was hit.
After the crash, Runnels was hospitalized for roughly a week before he died.
Following Runnels' death, community members attended vigils to celebrate his life while calling for change to prevent future similar tragedies.
Trisha Parnell started a Change.org petition calling for added infrastructure around the district's schools and additional funding from the state for busing so kids are less likely to need to walk home.
"What we have going on doesn't work," Parnell said.
She has lead the charge for change within the district because she knows what it's like to have a child hit by a car.
Her daughter Madisyn Beare was hit while crossing the street outside Lakota West in 2018. Beare survived the crash but wasn't able to walk for two months and was forced into more than a year of physical therapy before she could return to a sense of normalcy.
Read Lakota Local School District's full statement from May below:
The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority. We have already reached out to both West Chester and Liberty townships to discuss pedestrian safety measures around our schools. Both townships, as well as the Butler County Engineer’s office, have been agreeable to installing flashing lights at crosswalks near our high schools in the past. This ongoing discussion will take time and will continue this summer. As always, we implore drivers to use caution when driving in our school zones, especially during arrival and dismissal.
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