Charge dropped, lesser charge filed

VW independent staff

PAULDING — A Paulding woman facing a felony charge for allegedly hitting and killing a young bicyclist more than a year ago has had that charge dismissed and replaced with a lesser charge.

Cynthia Switzer, 46, was indicted last October by a Paulding County grand jury on a single count of aggravated vehicular homicide, a second degree felony. That charge has been replaced by negligent homicide, a first degree misdemeanor, and the case has been transferred to Paulding County Municipal Court. Court records show she entered a not guilty plea there on September 24 and was released on her own recognizance. Switzer is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing at 2 p.m. Thursday, October 10. The case against her in Paulding County Common Pleas Court was officially dismissed on September 26.

The original charge and the new charge stemmed from a September 4, 2023, traffic crash on Paulding County Road 103, just west of Paulding. Switzer’s car hit Ross Erwin Myers, 12, from behind. He was ejected from the bicycle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol collected a urine sample to determine if Switzer had consumed alcohol before the crash. The results showed her blood alcohol content was was more than three times over the legal limit, .272. However, defense attorney E. Charles Bates contested the results, citing a possible link between glucose levels, alcohol test results and diabetes, which Switzer has, plus body cam recordings.

Switzer was arrested and booked into the Paulding County Jail on Friday, October 13, 2023, more than five weeks after the incident. She posted a $10,000 bond the following day

She was originally scheduled to stand trial in May but it was delayed due to various motions filed by Bates. She was then scheduled to stand trial in December in Paulding County Common Pleas Court, but it’s been removed from the docket.

A conviction on the aggravated vehicular homicide charge carried with it a mandatory prison sentence of 2-8 years, a fine of up to $15,000 and a mandatory license suspension for life. If convicted of negligent vehicular homicide, Switzer faces up to six months in the Paulding County Jail and a $1,000 fine.