Driver Must Carry Photo Of Woman He Killed In Crash: Judge

GLEN BURNIE, MD – A speeding Baltimore driver convicted of grossly negligent manslaughter for fleeing a traffic stop and fatally crashing head-on into a Linthicum woman received a controversial sentence Tuesday from an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge. Johnathan Derek Simms, 33, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in the death of 66-year-old Louisa Donner, which her family said was too lenient. In an unusual twist, Simms was ordered to carry a photo of Donner wherever he goes for the next six years.

Donner, 66, was dubbed the "goodwill ambassador of Glen Burnie by prosecutors. She died April 4, 2016, when her Kia Spectra was hit head-on by a speeding vehicle driven by Simms, prosecutors say. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Maryland State Police investigators say Simms was driving 73 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone when he slammed into Donner's car.

Judge Ronald Silkworth sentenced Simms to the jail term, plus five years of probation and 500 hours of community service. Prosecutors said Simms had failed to accept responsibility for his actions that led to the fatal crash. “This was a case of someone who just didn’t want to stop for the police,” assistant state's attorney Michael McGraw said.

Before sentencing Simms said he accepts Donner’s death, adding that he thought he was being pursued by a phantom car at the time of the accident. “I was not in my right mind. That was me crying for help,” Simms said, reports the Capital-Gazette.

Donner's daughter thought the judge's sentence was too lenient, and leaves her with no justice as she battles depression and the loss of her mother.

Kerrie Donner said her mother offered “a sanctuary” to family members in hard times, while strangers would start a conversation because of her warm personality. “I’ll never be able to express everything that my mom was to me and to everyone that was around her,” Kerrie Donner said in court.

A Maryland State Police trooper saw Simms speeding in a 2015 Toyota Camry on Route 100 in Glen Burnie. The officer turned on her emergency lights and tried to stop Simms, but police say he failed to stop. Simms accelerated to speeds of more than 90 mph, taking the ramp onto northbound 170 and continuing eastbound onto Dorsey Road, where the trooper ended the pursuit. Simms then turned left, traveling toward oncoming traffic in the southbound lanes of Aviation Boulevard, where he crashed head-on into Donner's car, officials said.

Simms was found guilty in November 2017 of grossly negligent manslaughter, criminally negligent manslaughter, fleeing and eluding resulting in death, fleeing and eluding, reckless driving, and negligent driving. The manslaughter charges are felonies that could have carried a combined 13 years in prison and $10,000 fine.

»Read the Capital-Gazette's full account of the case here.

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