Woman sentenced in 2023 car-bike crash

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

PAULDING — The case of a Paulding woman who struck and killed a young bicyclist on Labor Day, 2023 has finally reached its conclusion.

Cynthia Switzer, 47, appeared in Paulding County Municipal Court on Thursday and was sentenced to 60 days in jail with credit for one day served on a charge of vehicular manslaughter, a second degree misdemeanor.

In addition, her driver’s license was suspended for five years and she was fined $250 plus court costs. The maximum penalty was 90 days in jail, a $750 fine and a license suspension of six months to five years.

According to court paperwork, Switzer is to report to the Paulding County Jail on Sunday, November 24, to begin serving her sentence.

The charge was tied to the September 4, 2023, traffic crash on Paulding County Road 103, just west of Paulding. Switzer’s car hit Ross Erwin Myers, 12, from behind. A crash report indicated 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, along with body cam recordings.

Switzer was scheduled to stand trial on the original felony charge in May of this year, 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 before the felony charge was dismissed in September and replaced with a lesser charge of negligent homicide, a first degree misdemeanor. The case was transferred to Paulding County Municipal Court and approximately four weeks later, the charge was lowered a second time to vehicular manslaughter. She entered a no contest plea to the charge on November 1.

The original charge of aggravated vehicular homicide carried a mandatory prison sentence of 2-8 years, a fine of up to $15,000 and a mandatory license suspension for life. The negligent homicide charge was punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.