Driver Pleads Guilty
In Hancock Fatal
By Sandy Vondrasek

In a change-of-plea entered December 3 in Addison County District Court, Sammy Jo Wood, 18, of Granville, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of negligent operation, filed in connection with a July 30 fatal accident on Route 100 in Hancock.

Killed in the two-car collision was 13-year-old Shawna Linn Brown, a passenger in Wood’s car.

Shawna Brown, who grew up in Hancock, was the daughter of Anthony Brown of Hancock and Rebekka Ward of Barre. According to Anthony Brown, at the time of the accident, Wood was babysitting both his daughter and the four-year-old grandchild of Brown’s girlfriend, Cindy Belisle.

In their report on the crash, police said Wood was southbound on Route 100 in Hancock, when her car crossed the centerline, traveling into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Shawna Brown, who was not seatbelted, was thrown from the vehicle in the impact, and was pronounced dead at the scene by a medical examiner. Police reported no other injuries. Wood’s car was totaled, and the other vehicle sustained moderate damage.

Wood had been babysitting the two children at Wood and Belisle’s Hancock home that day. Brown said he did not know Wood had taken the younger girls for a drive until he was called and asked to come to the scene of the accident.

Charge Explained

This week, Addison County Deputy State’s Atty. Christopher Perkett, prosecutor in the case, said the negligent operation charge Wood pleaded guilty to Dec. 3 is the initial misdemeanor charge filed against her in September, at the district court in Middlebury.

Perkett said he made the decision to charge Wood with a misdemeanor—instead of a felony charge of "gross negligent operation, death resulting"—because his review of case law led him to conclude that it was unlikely he could prove, "beyond a reasonable doubt," the stiffer charge.

"There is no charge of ‘negligent operation, death resulting,’" Perkett added. "I would have done that if I could."

Both Anthony Brown and Belisle recently contacted The Herald to voice their dismay about the misdemeanor charge.

Brown said he felt Wood should be charged with a felony crime.

"I want to know if there is another case when someone was killed and the driver was charged with a misdemeanor," he said.

Belisle said her four-year-old granddaughter, who was also in Wood’s car that day, escaped physical injury but has been traumatized by the experience of seeing Shawna Brown killed.

"She (Wood) should have never put those kids in that car," Belisle said. "She took away something precious, something that never can be replaced."

January Sentencing

Deputy State’s Atty. Perkett said a full hour has been set for a January 14 sentencing hearing. Vermont law allows the parents in this situation to speak to the judge directly, and to give their recommendations, Perkett noted.

"I know the whole family is devastated by this," the deputy state’s attorney added. "This was a girl who was well-loved by her whole family. I expect it (the sentencing hearing) will be an emotional day for them."

Perkett noted that the court has asked the Corrections Department to produce a pre-sentencing report on Wood for the January hearing. That report will include biographical information about Wood and the DOC’s recommendation for sentencing. Perkett noted that Wood does not have any prior criminal history.

The maximum penalty for the negligent operation charge is imprisonment of no more than one year, a $1000 fine, or both.

Perkett noted that Wood was released on several conditions, following her September arraignment, and one of the conditions was that she not drive.

"At this point, she won’t be on the roads anytime soon," he said.

Wood’s public defense attorney, Jeremy L. Schwarz, declined to comment on the case.