HUDSONVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) — A driver has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge in the crash that killed a 30-year-old man as he walked along a Georgetown Township street.
Heidi Vanderbie, 46, pleaded no contest and the judge entered a guilty plea Tuesday to a charge of leaving the scene of an injury accident — a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.
On Nov. 27, 2016, 30-year-old Korey Taphouse was killed as he went for a walk beside Port Sheldon Street, east of 48th Avenue near his house. There are no sidewalks along that part of the road.
Police said Vanderbie, of Zeeland, was driving westbound on Port Sheldon Street when her 2012 Jeep struck Taphouse. She allegedly told police she thought she hit a deer, so she drove home and then called 911.
Since Taphouse’s death, his wife, Emily Taphouse, has learned that his donated organs have helped save at least four people and she has lobbied Georgetown Township for the installation of sidewalks and improved lighting.