No contest plea to fatal crash charge

VW independent staff

PAULDING — A Paulding woman facing a second degree misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter for hitting and killing a young bicyclist more than a year ago has entered a no contest plea and now awaits sentencing.

Records from Paulding Municipal Court show Cynthia Switzer, 47, waived her right to a jury trial and entered the plea during a hearing held on Thursday, November 1. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and sentencing was scheduled for Thursday, November 14. She faces up to 90 days in jail, a $750 fine and a mandatory license suspension of six months to three years.

Switzer was indicted last October by a Paulding County grand jury on a single count of aggravated vehicular homicide, a second degree felony. In late August of this year, the charge was dismissed and replaced by a first degree misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide and the case was transferred to Paulding County Municipal Court. The charge was then reduced to vehicular manslaughter.

The charge is connected to 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 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 scheduled to stand trial in December in Paulding County Common Pleas Court before the case was transferred to Paulding County Municipal Court.

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.