http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/volusia-county/woman-ticketed-after-crash-kills-pedestrian/-/12983450/22448386/-/11qbgpuz/-/index.htmlBy Frank Fernandez
frank.fernandez@news-jrnl.com
Published: Monday, September 30, 2013 at 6:40 p.m.
A motorist who was reportedly trying to retrieve her cellphone when she struck and killed a woman crossing Ridgewood Avenue in Port Orange should face more punishment than a traffic citation, according to the victim's relatives.
Nicole K. Nagrani, 21, was heading south on South Ridgewood Avenue in her sport utility vehicle on April 11, 2013, when she hit Leona E. Daniluk as the 78-year-old Port Orange resident tried to walk across the highway at White Place. But a traffic homicide investigation concluded that Nagrani's actions were not reckless, a standard needed for a vehicular homicide charge.
Nagrani's attorney, Tim Herring, drove to the accident site and told police that “... Nagrani was not using her cellular phone at the time of the crash, but that the phone had fallen and she was attempting to retrieve it.”
Daniluk's daughter, Tina Melnicoff, said a ticket was insufficient and that Nagrani should serve some prison time. “I don't see no fairness of it, if she does get a ticket,” Melnicoff said. “She should get more than a ticket. The girl, if she was paying attention that morning driving instead of trying to retrieve her cellphone, she would have had time to stop or swerve or even hit the median."
