NEWARK, Ohio -- It was a packed courthouse Monday morning as a suspect was sentenced after a fatal hit-and-run accident last summer.
Lester Davenport, who has been accused in the hit-and-run death of Roberta Hay, faced a Licking County judge.
Davenport was traveling westbound on U.S. Route 40 during the overnight hours of July 8, 2008.
Roberta Hay, 46, of Etna was walking along the route when Davenport’s vehicle allegedly struck and killed her.
Hay was intoxicated, according to court documents.
Davenport failed to stop, according to the prosecuting attorney.
Authorities found the vehicle Davenport allegedly used to commit the offense a few days after the accident.
Davenport, who has previous OVI offenses, turned himself in months later.
Davenport was charged with one count of failure to stop after an accident, a third-degree felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
He pleaded no contest to the charge.
Hay’s sister was given an opportunity to talk directly the Davenport in the courtroom,
"That was my baby sister, and I know in my heart, you know you hit a human. And I can't get past why you couldn't have just picked her up and held her until she took her last breath. We would have felt comfort in that," sister Jody Hail said.
Judge Thomas Marcelain sentenced Davenport to one year in prison with a $1,000 fine and a two-year driver’s license suspension.
Davenport denied an on-camera interview.
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