NORTHAMPTON — An Easthampton woman charged with fatally hitting another woman with a minivan in a crosswalk in 2018 has received pretrial probation as part of an agreed-upon disposition in Northampton District Court.
Ruby Schmid, of Easthampton, appeared in court Tuesday in connection with a December 3, 2018 crash on Cottage Street in Easthampton that claimed the life of Denise Herzog, then 63, also of Easthampton.
Schmid’s case was continued for five years on a charge of negligent motor vehicle homicide, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office. Schmid, who was 62 at the time of the crash, was previously found not competent to stand trial.
Schmid had been in arraigned in February 2019 and entered a plea of not guilty to charges of negligent motor vehicle homicide, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a civil crosswalk infraction.
Under state law, the court, with approval of a judge, may place a defendant on pretrial probation, which is an agreement between the prosecutor and defendant before a trial or a plea of guilty, according to Mary Carey, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office.
The two charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a civil crosswalk infraction were dismissed. Schmid also was ordered not to drive a motor vehicle or seek a license from the RMV during her pretrial probationary period, according to the DA’s office.
“The commonwealth believes that because the defendant is not competent to stand trial, or to plead guilty in this case, today’s result was a fair outcome to a terrible tragedy,” Assistant District Attorney Andrew Covington, who prosecuted the case, said in a statement Tuesday night.
“We hope this disposition brings some closure and justice for Ms. Herzog’s family and the people of Easthampton. The commonwealth would also like to thank Ms. Herzog’s family for all of their support throughout this difficult case,” Covington said.
On Wednesday, Schmid’s attorney, Alan Rubin, called Herzog’s death a “tremendously tragic situation” and said that the disposition was the best resolution “to allow everyone to move on with their own lives.”
But Susan Herzog, sister of Denise Herzog, said in a phone interview Wednesday that she was upset with the punishment that Schmid received.
“My family is so horrified by this that you can’t imagine. It’s one thing to lose your family member to somebody who smashes them, literally, to pieces,” said Susan Herzog, of Minneapolis. “And then it’s another to have them walk away with virtually no punishment whatsoever.”
She said she would have liked to have seen Schmid placed on house arrest, and lose driving privileges for the rest of her life, not five years.
“This woman killed somebody and in five years will be able to apply for a driver’s license,” Susan Herzog said. “Yesterday was a big day of shame for Massachusetts. That should never, ever be allowed to happen.”
Herzog was a potter and ceramicist who helped found the Cottage Street Studios in an Easthampton mill building in the 1980s. At the time of her death, she was recalled by fellow artists and friends as someone who, over the years, had left a deep impact on clients through an arts programs at Riverside Industries at One Cottage Street and who was a champion for the Cottage Street cultural district.
Judge Maureen Walsh presided over Tuesday’s hearing.
Easthampton Police, Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services, and Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section investigated the 2018 crash.