Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Sam Penrod ReportingFamily members of a four-year old girl killed in a traffic accident react to the filing of criminal charges against the driver who hit their car.
The driver who crashed into the victim's car, killing the girl was driving on a suspended license. Now negligent homicide charges have been filed against the Eagle Mountain woman involved in the deadly crash.
Three people have been killed along State Road 73 west of Lehi in just the last three months. Among them a four-year old girl whose family believes stricter enforcement of traffic laws could prevent other families from suffering a similar tragedy.
Jacee Hathaway was killed September 17th on State Road 73, west of Lehi. Jacee was in her car seat when another car driven by Dorothy Boss drove into the oncoming lane of traffic. Jacee's dad swerved into the emergency lane to avoid a collision, but Boss's car struck the back of the car where Jacee was riding.
Wendell Hathaway, Victim's Grandfather: "In this case we lost our four-year old granddaughter who was very close to us and precious part of our lives, and it's very difficult to deal with."
Wendell Hathaway says the fact the suspect was driving on a suspended license adds frustration to an already tragic situation. He is disappointed that felony charges of automobile homicide were not filed.
Utah County prosecutors tell Eyewitness News that with the evidence they have they could only charge Boss with misdemeanor negligent homicide. But the Hathaway family hopes someone who may have witnessed the crash can come forward with new information on the accident they feel the police report failed to include.
Wendell Hathaway: "I'm convinced there is a lot of people out there that saw this accident and witnessed it and they all probably felt that somebody else stopped and gave testimony in what happened. In reality, no one stopped and provided any information at all."
Still, the Hathaways have praise for the many people in the community who've tried to ease their sorrow in recent weeks, including the staff at Primary Children's Medical Center who helped them the night Jacee was killed.
Wendell Hathaway: "It was a very tragic night that night, but the people who worked with us, i would like to thank them personally, especially the hospital chaplain."
The suspect's license was suspended in Oregon; investigators are still trying to learn why it was suspended in the first place. The suspect in this case is scheduled to appear in court later this month.
