Ex-newscaster who ran over woman pleads guilty
A former WHAS-11 weekend sports anchor pleaded guilty Wednesday to failing to provide help after he ran over a downtown hotel employee who had fallen while crossing the street.
Jeffrey Woods, 33, admitted he didn't stop to help the woman, 58-year-old Fontaine Jeffery, according to plea documents filed in Jefferson Circuit Court.
Jeffery had just finished her shift at the downtown Marriott Hotel Jan. 23, 2015, and was crossing Jefferson Street at Second Street when she fell in the crosswalk for unknown reasons, court records show.
A flatbed tow truck was turning left from Second Street onto Jefferson Street when it ran over Jeffery, a police investigation found. The driver of the tow truck stopped and pulled to the side of the street. Soon after, Woods also ran over the woman as he drove a WHAS-marked SUV.
The tow truck driver told police that Woods did stop and exit the SUV. Woods looked at the other driver before returning to his vehicle and leaving the scene, never calling 911, court records detail.
Investigative documents filed in court do not suggest alcohol or drugs were a factor in the case.
In court Wednesday, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman accepted Woods' guilty plea to a single count of failure to stop and render aid. Wood agreed to serve four years of supervised diversion. If Woods doesn't comply with the terms of his diversion, prosecutors have recommended a three-year prison sentence, according to plea documents. If he complies, the felony charge will be dismissed.
Court records note Woods is allowed to keep his driver's license.
Failure to stop and render aid is a class D felony, punishable by one to five years in prison and a fine of $1,000 to $10,000.
Jeffery's daughters filed a wrongful death lawsuit in March 2015 against Woods and Matthew Good, the employee driving the tow truck that first ran over the victim. That suit is pending.
No criminal charges have been filed against Good in relation to the incident, as he stopped at the scene of the incident, said the daughters' attorney Aubrey Williams in an interview last year.
Attorney Brian Butler said his client accepted the prosecution's offer because it offered a path to the charge being dismissed.
"He also wanted to accept responsibility for leaving the scene of the accident and bring closure to everyone," Butler said. "In retrospect, he wishes that he would have stuck around and is genuinely sorry to the family."
Woods joined WHAS-11 in May 2014 as a weekend sports anchor, according to his online biography. WHAS-11 President and General Manager Linda Danna said in an email that the company has no comment on Woods' plea as he is no longer an employee.
Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com.