Driver Who Killed Lower Merion Firefighter Gets 12 To 24 Years

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — The woman who struck and killed a Lower Merion firefighter in 2021 will spend at least a dozen years in prison.

Jacquelyn Walker, 63, of Egg Harbor, New Jersey, was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in prison Thursday on charges of third-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and four counts of reckless endangerment.

Walker killed Belmont Hills Fire Company Firefighter Thomas Royds in a crash that occurred at about 3:23 a.m. on July 24 on Interstate 76 west between the Gladwyne and Conshohocken exits.

Two other Lower Merion firefighters, Alex Fischer and Sam Shaffer, were hurt in the crash, as well.

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Royds, Fischer, and Shaffer were responding to a two-car crash on the highway when the fatal incident occurred.

The two cars were on the berm of the highway, while the fire truck — with all of its emergency lights activated — was parked in the right-hand travel lane and the marked State Police vehicle was in the same lane in front of the fire truck.

There were orange cones behind the fire truck that directed traffic into the left-hand travel lane of I-76.

Responders were in the road and the berm between the fire truck and the two cars involved in the original crash.

Vehicles were moving through the emergency response area at about 10 miles per hour in the left-hand travel lane.

At 3:23 a.m., the Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Walker, was travelling in the right-hand travel lane as she came to the scene, then drove over the rumble strips that mark the travel lane and berm, drove on the berm, and struck Royds, Fischer, and Shaffer at a high rate of speed.

Her vehicle then squarely hit the rear-end of one of the previously crashed vehicles, sending her Jeep’s front end into the Nissan’s trunk and pushing both cars 30 feet before coming to a stop.

An investigation and reconstruction of the crash found that Walker's Jeep was in poor condition overall, with severe rusting and other deficits.

Authorities said three of the four brakes on the Jeep were not functional, and previous records and evidence revealed that she knew about the brake system deficit, yet she declined to fix the brakes and continued to drive the vehicle.

Additionally, there was no evidence of any pre-impact evasive steering by Walker, authorities said.

Rather, she continued to drive straight into and through the firefighters and state trooper, ultimately colliding with the black Nissan Altima.

The crash investigation determined that the overall poor condition of her vehicle and the continued operation of this vehicle with the failing condition of the brake system was a major contributing factor to the crash that killed Royds and injured the other first responders.