Woman faces prison after conviction in fatal Greene County crash

A 65-year-old Xenia Twp. woman faces prison time after being convicted more than two years after a fatal crash that she caused while driving intoxicated.

A Greene County jury found Kathy Smith guilty late Thursday afternoon on five counts, including aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

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The crash happened on Hussey Road during a rainy afternoon in August 2016. Raymond Deyo, 68, and his wife, Linda, were traveling eastbound in their 2004 Toyota Tundra when they were struck by a 2011 Chevrolet Cruz driven by Smith.

Raymond, the driver, was killed in the crash. Linda survived the crash with serious injuries. Smith also suffered injuries.

The Deyo family attended Thursday’s hearing and reacted with tears of relief when the verdict was read. In an interview following the hearing, Linda Deyo said she and her family will finally have some closure after waiting 2½ years for justice to be served.

“We got what we’ve been waiting for ... It’s not been an easy road for my family. We feel like she got what she had coming,” Deyo said.

She said it took eight months to “get back on my feet” because of the injuries she suffered.

“I have different pain every day throughout my body because I had life-threatening conditions ... I’m coping with it every day. It won’t be like it was before but what do you expect out of an accident like that? I’m lucky to be here,” she said.

Deyo said her husband was a Vietnam veteran and “a good man.”

“He helped anybody. In fact, after the crash he told them to check on me and the people in the other car, and then he was gone. He was a good-hearted person,” she said.

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Smith originally was indicted by a grand jury on the same charges in March 2017. The defendant was scheduled to go to trial in June 2018, but that case was dismissed after a joint motion by both the prosecutor and the defense was filed, according to court records. A new case was created in June 2018 after the prosecutor’s office filed a bill of information on the same charges, according to court records.

“There was a delay in prosecution because we needed to investigate the background ... and get some additional information. Unfortunately, that took some time but it was well worth it in order to have today,” said Greene County Assistant Prosecutor Cheri Stout.

Smith has at least one prior conviction for OVI from a traffic stop in May 2013, but that did not come up during the trial.

“Unfortunately, the way her priors ran they weren’t anything we could use for an enhancement on these (charges),” Stout said.

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During the trial, the defense challenged the blood-alcohol content test results of .343, which is more than four times the Ohio legal limit of .08, and expert witnesses were called by both the prosecution and defense to testify.

Prior to meeting with the jury members, Stout said in her opinion the key piece of evidence was provided by Smith’s own words when she admitted to medics at the scene that she had been drinking wine earlier that day.

“There are no words for the relief that it brings for the family and the ability for them to move on from here,” Stout said.

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