A Staten Island woman, whose car struck and killed a grandmother on May 18, 2010, has reached a plea deal this week that does not include jail time.

Genowefa Kurpiewska, 59, was walking her 3-year-old grandson, Philip, to preschool at the time. The driver, Luigina Duval, 42, sped to beat a red light. Her car hit a Subaru at the intersection, jumped a curb, hit Ms. Kurpiewska, and came to a stop at a utility pole.

Philip survived the crash, but his grandmother was pronounced dead at Richmond University Medical Center.

Ms. Duval was charged with criminally negligent homicide, which carries 1.3 to 4 years, second-degree assault, which carries 2 to 7 years, and reckless endangerment.

Several mitigating circumstances brought Ms. Duval to a relatively lenient sentence. She was not speeding by much over the 30mph limit. She was not intoxicated. After the crash, she did not leave and did what she could to help the victim. Since then, she has displayed remorse by praying daily for Ms. Kurpiewska. She also did not have a criminal record.

The grandmother's family did not want Ms. Duval sentenced to jail. Instead, she will be sentenced to five years' probation with 150 hours of community service. She will also lose her license for a year.

Most accident cases that involve death do not involve criminality unless drugs or alcohol were involved. In some instances of speeding or racing, criminal charges may also be involved. Accident cases are known more frequently as “negligence cases” which simply means that the injured victim brings a claim or a lawsuit alleging that one or more drivers were careless and caused injury as a result of that carelessness.

If you would like more information about how accident cases work in the state of New York, I encourage you to explore my educational website. If you have legal questions, I urge you to pick up the phone and call me at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at [email protected] to answer your questions. That's what I do every day. I welcome your call.