OCONTO, Wis. (AP) - Prosecutors have agreed to defer charges against an 84-year-old Wisconsin woman in a fatal car accident that killed her husband and two friends in Oconto County.
The agreement with Thelma Yashinsky includes several conditions, including that she not drive a vehicle outside a 2-mile radius of her home, WLUK-TV reported (https://bit.ly/2noU6JT ).
Court documents allege that Yashinsky drove through a stop sign on Oct. 24, 2015, and collided with another vehicle. The accident killed three people in her vehicle: her 91-year-old husband, Edward Yashinsky, along with 96-year-old Leora Raisler and 89-year-old Grace Hyland.
Prosecutors initially charged Yashinsky with five counts, including three felony counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. She also faced charges related to the injury of the driver of the other vehicle and his 9-year-old daughter.
Yashinsky’s family criticized the charges, saying she had suffered enough. Her attorney, Brian Maloney, also chastised the district attorney’s decision to file charges, noting that no drinking or drug use was involved in the wreck, which he said “was an accident, not a crime.”
Under her agreement with prosecutors, Yashinksy also must not commit a crime for three years. Other conditions dictate that she provide a letter from her physician twice over the next two years stating there are no medical reasons she shouldn’t drive.
Prosecutors could re-open the case if Yashinksy fails to abide by those conditions within three years.
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Information from: WLUK-TV, https://www.fox11online.com
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