Two state legislators say they're working on bills to raise Ohio's vehicular manslaughter penalty beyond its current 90-day maximum, a direct response to a string of fatal crashes in and around Hyde Park that left families facing what one lawmaker called an unjustly light sentence.
State Sen. Louis "Bill" Blessing III, a Republican from Colerain Township who sits on the Senate Justice Committee, told Local 12 on July 30 that he is drafting legislation to increase the penalty when a traffic crash results in death. No bill has been formally introduced.
"For me, three months when somebody's life has been taken seems just too low," Blessing said.
State Rep. Adam Mathews, a Lebanon Republican on the House Justice Committee, said judges need more discretion to impose harsher sentences and argued stiffer penalties would encourage more attentive driving.
Ohio's 90-day cap makes it the fifth-lowest maximum in the country. The national average maximum is three and a half years; the median is one year. Neighboring Kentucky allows up to five years. Indiana allows up to six.
Three local cases exposed the gap
The legislative push follows three fatal crashes tied to the Hyde Park and Oakley area, all charged at the misdemeanor level, as we reported July 31.
The most recent: Metro bus driver Kyle Taylor, 33, pleaded not guilty on July 24 to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter after his bus struck a City of Cincinnati road crew on the Norwood Lateral on July 16, killing 46-year-old Jonathan "Jay" Young. Young had worked for the city's Department of Public Services for 24 years and was a father of two. Taylor is due back in court in September.
At Taylor's bond hearing on July 24, Young's co-worker Harold Watson told the judge he witnessed the crash firsthand. "I had to watch John take his last breath," Watson said. "We need justice for John."
The judge set bond at $5,000, noting that vehicular manslaughter is only a second-degree misdemeanor. Taylor posted $500 and walked out.
In the earlier Hyde Park cases, Metro driver Deon Willis received no jail time after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in the January 2024 crosswalk death of 87-year-old Beverly Kinney at Dana Avenue and Duck Creek Road. Willis was sentenced in August 2024 to five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. And on Erie Avenue, 80-year-old William Luken III was charged July 9 with vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter after his Corvette struck and killed 26-year-old Vespa rider Noah Patsfall on May 1.
Not everyone agrees
Defense attorney Jay Clark pushed back, arguing the current guidelines are appropriate. "I don't think people drive with the deterrent effect of, 'If I do this, then I might go to jail for that,'" Clark said.
Blessing acknowledged the difficulty of legislating around grief. He said lawmakers must "take emotion out of this and figure out what is actually fair."
No timeline has been set for a bill introduction or committee hearing. If Blessing files legislation, it would go to the Senate Justice Committee.
