Background: News footage of Caitlin Kelly in court for her sentencing on Dec. 2 (WPRI). Inset: Vanda Makovetskiy (Legacy.com).
A Rhode Island driver has pleaded no contest in connection with a hit-and-run that took the life of an 85-year-old woman.
Caitlin Kelly, 29, appeared in court on Tuesday to plead no contest for failing to stop in an accident resulting in death, more than two years after she drove her car into 85-year-old Vanda Makovetskiy while she was walking with her husband of 53 years. Makovetskiy and her husband were known for walking hand-in-hand through their Providence neighborhood every morning since shortly after they moved to the United States from Ukraine in 1995.
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According to courtroom reporting by local CBS affiliate WPRI, prosecutors said that Kelly was captured on surveillance cameras stopping at a red light at 6:14 a.m. on Oct. 4, 2023. She soon turned on to North Main Street, where Makovetskiy and her then-93-year-old husband were taking the daily morning walk they had taken every day, holding hands, for the last 28 years.
The Makovetskiys” daily walk was known throughout the community, according to the victim’s obituary.
The fatal collision was also caught on camera, as well as Kelly’s failure to stop to render aid to the elderly woman she had just hit with her car. Kelly was seen continuing to drive until she reached another red light, when she stopped again, and continued driving away from the scene.
Prosecutors said Kelly sent a text to a friend about three minutes after she hit Makovetskiy saying, “I just hit someone head-on riding a scooter.” Kelly also filed a claim with her insurance company following the crash.
Two days after Kelly killed Makovetskiy, her car was towed by investigators looking into the fatal crash. She texted two of her friends saying, “I’m so f—ing scared” and “I’m in deep s—.” Prosecutors stated that Kelly’s actions proved that she knowingly avoided reporting the crash.
A spokesperson for Makovetskiy’s family read statements at the hearing on their behalf, including a statement from her widower. Anisim Makovetskiy, now 96, wrote, “My plan was completely different. I’m older, and I couldn’t even imagine that I would be left without my other half. I shudder and my heart breaks every time people meet me on the street and remember how they saw us both every day.”
Kelly was sentenced to 10 years in prison with three to serve, followed by 10 years probation and the suspension of her license for three years.
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
