Tearful Lansdowne woman apologizes for hitting three middle schoolers with car

MEDIA COURTHOUSE â€" A Lansdowne woman who hospitalized three middle-schoolers in a 2009 car crash gave a tearful apology after pleading guilty to three counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

“It was a tragic accident,” Dawn Denise Snell said through sobs. “I never meant to hurt anybody. I’m so, so sorry that it happened.”

According to defense attorney James Adam Funt, Snell, 44, of the 200 block of Hansell Road, had been up all night cooking Thanksgiving meals for the homeless before climbing behind the wheel on Nov. 24 to drive her daughter to 69th Street Terminal.

Funt said Snell fell asleep at the wheel and has since been diagnosed with sleep apnea. Her car went out of control on the 7100 block of Marshall Road, striking Jameal Brunswick, then 13, Philmon Beyene and Tyler Lowery, both then 12.

The three boys suffered multiple injuries from the impact, as well as continuing health problems, according to Assistant District Attorney Erica Parham.

Lowery’s father said the accident has taken high-impact sports from his son and given him nightmares.

Beyene told Judge James Bradley he spent the majority of seventh grade either at home or in the hospital for therapy, and continues to have health problems.

“This was obviously an unfortunate incident, but the fact remains that the defendant had a duty to control her vehicle,” said Parham. “If she was having sleep issues, she should not have been driving. … It was a game of, if you will, Russian roulette, just waiting for something to happen, and it did. The good news is that nobody died, but these families were greatly affected.”

Shaka Mzee Johnson, another defense attorney, said Snell’s world had also been turned upside down. She lost her job and is now facing foreclosure on her home, he said, and was so inconsolable after the accident that she was put on suicide watch at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.

“This was nothing more than a traffic accident â€" of grave proportions, but a traffic accident,” said Johnson in asking for leniency. Continued...

MEDIA COURTHOUSE â€" A Lansdowne woman who hospitalized three middle-schoolers in a 2009 car crash gave a tearful apology after pleading guilty to three counts of misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

“It was a tragic accident,” Dawn Denise Snell said through sobs. “I never meant to hurt anybody. I’m so, so sorry that it happened.”

According to defense attorney James Adam Funt, Snell, 44, of the 200 block of Hansell Road, had been up all night cooking Thanksgiving meals for the homeless before climbing behind the wheel on Nov. 24 to drive her daughter to 69th Street Terminal.

Funt said Snell fell asleep at the wheel and has since been diagnosed with sleep apnea. Her car went out of control on the 7100 block of Marshall Road, striking Jameal Brunswick, then 13, Philmon Beyene and Tyler Lowery, both then 12.

The three boys suffered multiple injuries from the impact, as well as continuing health problems, according to Assistant District Attorney Erica Parham.

Lowery’s father said the accident has taken high-impact sports from his son and given him nightmares.

Beyene told Judge James Bradley he spent the majority of seventh grade either at home or in the hospital for therapy, and continues to have health problems.

“This was obviously an unfortunate incident, but the fact remains that the defendant had a duty to control her vehicle,” said Parham. “If she was having sleep issues, she should not have been driving. … It was a game of, if you will, Russian roulette, just waiting for something to happen, and it did. The good news is that nobody died, but these families were greatly affected.”

Shaka Mzee Johnson, another defense attorney, said Snell’s world had also been turned upside down. She lost her job and is now facing foreclosure on her home, he said, and was so inconsolable after the accident that she was put on suicide watch at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.

“This was nothing more than a traffic accident â€" of grave proportions, but a traffic accident,” said Johnson in asking for leniency.

The judge was inclined to agree, noting felony charges had been withdrawn. He ordered Snell to serve 30 weekends at Delaware County prison followed by 30 days of electronic home monitoring.

She was also ordered to pay $1,350 in penalties for nine summary offenses.

“It is a tragic accident,” said Bradley. “These were innocent children, they have suffered very significant injuries. … I think, it’s certainly clear that negligence was obvious on the part of the defendant. I think civilly, she certainly had a duty not to get behind the wheel of a car knowing she wasn’t sufficiently rested. But criminal liability and civil liability are entirely different.”