LEWISBURG -- Hours after Friday morning's death of a man left in a coma for 12 months following a hit-and-run, his family members were calling the Union County prosecutor to find out if vehicular manslaughter charges can be brought against the driver.
Todd Miller's death has prompted family members to ask Union County District Attorney D. Peter Johnson whether the driver who hit him, Tracy L. Webb, can be charged in his death.
"I'm really trying to forgive her, but I think she should be charged with vehicular manslaughter," said Miller's fiancee, Jessica Lordeon.
Johnson was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon.
Miller, 37, died at 4:50 a.m. Friday at Rolling Hills Manor Nursing Home in Millmont.
He had been comatose since Jan. 10, 2008, when he was hit by a car driven by Webb, 37, of Lewisburg, as he walked along JPM Road in Kelly Township with Lordeon and two children. Webb fled the scene, but was arrested later and charged with leaving an accident without offering aid and driving without insurance.
She pleaded guilty to a felony charge of accident involving personal injury.
Webb was sentenced Dec. 9 to nine months to 23 months in county jail and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and restitution.
Lordeon and Miller's family, including his mother, Bonnie Swartz, of West Milton, opposed an original plea deal, which put Webb in jail for three months, as too lenient.
They accepted the revised plea that lengthened her time behind bars, but said they had wanted Webb to serve even more time for leaving Miller injured on the side of the road without stopping to help.
Now that Miller has died, Lordeon said she wants Webb to face a more severe penalty.
"I realize anybody could have done it, but in court she didn't even turn to us and say she was sorry," the grieving woman said. "She ripped a family completely apart and she's shown no remorse."
Lordeon said she struggles as a single mother, raising her 3-year-old son from a previous relationship and the 21-month-old daughter she and Miller had together.
The children were with Miller and Lordeon the day he was injured.
Lordeon said Miller never regained consciousness and, over the past year, battled several blood infections and other related health problems.
"I never lost hope," said Lordeon, who spent Wednesday night with Miller at the nursing home. "But his body just couldn't take it."
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