A 78-year-old woman was sentenced to one day in jail for driving into and killing a 3-year-old boy as he crossed a street in Denver’s Bonnie Brae neighborhood with his mother and sister this year.
Judge Kerry Hada also ordered Joan Hinkemeyer to spend 30 days in home confinement, undergo a driver’s course and complete 200 hours of community service. Additionally, Hinkemeyer faces the loss of her driver’s license for up to a year.
Austin Strasser was just days away from his fourth birthday at the time of the Feb. 13 collision. His mother and father spoke at Thursday’s hearing, where framed photos of the boy were placed throughout the courtroom.
“I miss him every single day, every moment,” Tiffanie Strasser told the court. “Perhaps worse than missing him is what I was looking forward to in the future.”
Earlier, Hada had rejected a plea agreement that did not call for any jail time in a series of unusual, highly emotional court proceedings that left much of the gallery in tears. In a tense, hour-long span, one agreement was rejected, another was presented by Hada and finally a sentence was imposed.
Everything was more fun when Austin was involved, Tiffanie Strasser said, and now her family has been robbed of teaching him how to ride a bike, camping trips together and the comforts of his energy wherever they went.
“As I come in today, I am confused by what justice means in a situation like this,” she said in a strong voice sometimes interrupted by sobs. “I read in the newspaper about teachers going to jail for cheating on a test, people who had too much to drink but not hurting anyone and getting heavy fines, suspended driver’s licenses and jail time. How can the consequences of killing a child in a crosswalk be some hours of community service?”
The fatal collision happened at the intersection of East Ohio Avenue and South University Boulevard.
Prosecutors said Hinkemeyer was turning left from Ohio onto South University when she hit Austin, his sister and his mother.
All three were in a crosswalk, attempting to cross the street on a trip to the library.
Hinkemeyer, who apologized to the family in court, said she didn’t see Tiffanie Strasser and her children because of sun glare.
“I’m a writer, but for a change I have no words to express my sorrow for what I’ve done to this family,” Hinkemeyer said in court. “If only we could turn our clocks back and redo things.”
Austin’s family described him as the protector of his 5-year-old blind, nonverbal and developmentally delayed sister, Audrey. Family and friends wondered aloud Thursday what his death will mean for the girl’s future.
The initial agreement, which stipulated Hinkemeyer plead guilty and serve 200 hours of community service, was rejected by Hada after Austin’s parents said it was too lenient. Assistant District Attorney Ashley Beck, who initially signed off on the agreement, made the extremely rare move of asking the judge to reject the deal as well.
Beck said she was given 12 pages of letters in Hinkemeyer’s defense that outlined how she devoted herself to community service, including on the day of the collision, when she was leaving her volunteer position at the library where the Strassers were headed.
“What is normally an inconvenience for most is nothing but daily life for Ms. Hinkemeyer,” Beck told the court. “My heart sank knowing I asked of Ms. Hinkemeyer nothing.”
Hinkemeyer, a former secondary school teacher, college professor and substitute librarian, looked distraught as the original deal was rejected. After the revised agreement was accepted by the judge following a brief recess, she was escorted from court by sheriff’s deputies.
“Thirty-seven years I haven’t ever had to deal with a revision I didn’t know about,” Steven Newell, Hinkemeyer’s attorney, told reporters of the prosecution’s surprising move.
Hinkemeyer pleaded guilty to careless driving resulting in death.
Two counts of careless driving resulting in injury — for injuring Tiffanie and Audrey Strasser — were dropped in the deal. She will serve her jail sentence Monday. Her community service will involve working with special-needs children.
“I think that all us who knew Austin — family and friends — are grateful for the judge today,” Connie Hamman, a friend of the Strasser family, said after the second deal was accepted. “Justice is a funny word.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
