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Driver accused of hitting, killing 15-year-old with truck changes plea

By WHIO Staff

Driver accused of hitting, killing teen with truck changes plea FILE PHOTO (Rawf8 - stock.adobe.com, File)

By WHIO Staff

BUTLER COUNTY — A woman accused of hitting and killing a 15-year-old back in May has changed her plea.

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Kaitlyn Hyde changed her plea to guilty of one misdemeanor count of vehicular homicide, according to court documents.

She originally pleaded not guilty back in August, according to Cincinnati station WXIX TV.

A Butler County Area 2 Court judge accepted Hyde’s plea change on Wednesday.

As previously reported by News Center 7, Aspen Dylan Runnels, 15, was in a crosswalk on May 15 on Bethany Road between Lakota East’s freshman campus and high school when a woman driving a pick-up truck hit the teen.

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A crash report revealed that Hyde was driving a 2007 GMC Sierra. She failed to yield the right of way and hit Runnels.

Deputies estimated that Hyde was traveling 30 m.p.h. in a 20 m.p.h. school zone at the time of the crash.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Family of Ohio teen hit by truck says his brain injury ‘is not survivable’

She told officers she was looking away from the roadway to adjust her baby’s pacifier when the crash occurred, according to the crash report.

Aspen was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center and died six days later, Cincinnati Station WXIX TV reported.

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Hyde could be sentenced to up to 90 days in jail, fined up to $750, and placed on five years probation, according to our news partner WCPO in Cincinnati.

The judge also suspended her driver’s license.

>>ORIGINAL COVERAGE: High school student seriously injured after being hit by car in Butler Co.

Hyde will be sentenced in December.

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