High Driver in Fatal Hit and Run Gets Jail Sentence

Nicole Shellard was sentenced Wednesday to 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years in prison for fatally striking Kathryn Underdown, 45, in Miller Place in May of 2010.

Suffolk County Judge Martin Efman handed down the sentence to Shellard, 33, of Lake Grove, who The sentencing by Efman was lower than the district attorney’s office recommendation of the maximum prison term of up to 15 years.

District Attorney Thomas Spota said the DA’s office recommended the lengthier prison sentence “based on the facts that there is convincing evidence the defendant had been doctor shopping for prescription meds and consumed the powerful drugs before getting behind the wheel”. 

Shellard struck Underdown from behind with her 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe on the shoulder near Hunter Avenue. Underdown, 45, died at the scene. Shellard fled the scene but crashed into another car about a tenth of a mile away. She was arrested at the scene of the second collision.

Toxicology reports indicate Shellard had high levels of Alprazolam (Xanax), Clonazepam (Klonopin), Meprobamate (a tranquilizer), and Carisoprodol (Soma) in her system and Police recovered 441 pills from her car.

“At a time when driving while impaired by prescription drugs has reached epidemic proportions, it’s time for the courts to consider the most punitive penalties possible as a deterrent,” Spota said.  “As the victim’s family said today to the court, this defendant’s sentence is woefully inadequate and an injustice to the community.”

Among other charges, Shellard pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident without reporting.