AUSTINTOWN — Angelica Burns was sentenced Wednesday to five days in the Mahoning County jail, 80 hours of community service, two years of probation and a $750 fine in the April 15, 2022, crash that killed motorcyclist Stephen L. Paynter, 54, of Austintown.

Her sentencing was in front of Judge Scott Hunter in Mahoning County Area Court in Austintown, who also ordered Burns to continue with counseling and ordered her driver’s license suspended for two years.

Burns, 27, of Fifth Avenue in Liberty, pleaded no contest Nov. 27 to vehicular manslaughter, a second-degree misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is 90 days in the Mahoning County jail. The judge sentenced her to 90 days but suspended 75 days and allowed her to serve 10 of the remaining days through community service. She could be ordered back to jail if she fails to meet the requirements of her probation.

The crash occurred on state Route 46 at Interstate 80 in Austintown. Investigators secured a surveillance video showing the crash.

Burns was traveling south on Route 46 and entered the left-turning lane to make a left turn onto the Interstate 80 eastbound on-ramp, the patrol stated in a crash report. It was 4:39 p.m.

Paynter was northbound on Route 46 on his 2007 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic motorcycle in the left through lane, apparently intending to proceed north through the intersection with the right-of-way.

As Burns and Paynter approached the intersection, Burns “initially stopped prior to making (her) left turn to wait for a small sedan that was traveling northbound in the right lane of (Route) 46,” the report states. “However, after the sedan passed, (Burns) committed to (her) left turn” and continued into the turn after observing the motorcycle approaching.

“The video shows (Burns) making (her) turn and pulling in front of (Paynter),” the report states. Burns “stated to seeing (Paynter) just before impact and attempted to rapidly accelerate in an attempt to clear the intersection.”

During the hearing, Burns spoke to the judge, but her remarks were mostly an apology to Paynter’s family.

“I can’t imagine how hard it must have been and continues to be to adjust to the tragedy,” she said. “I live each day with an overwhelming amount of guilt and remorse. I would do anything to change the events of that night.

“I am mentally living a life sentence,” she said. “I have to learn to forgive myself and accept that it was an accident. I hope that one day you will find it within yourselves to forgive me.”

DEFENSE ATTORNEY

Ron Yarwood, one of Burns’ lawyers, told the judge that Burns did not see Paynter “until such time at which point she did not have any time to do anything that would change the course of the events.”

Yarwood said that he is a motorcycle enthusiast himself, and he knows motorcyclists have to watch out for deer, gravel on the roadway and “you must always assume (other drivers) can’t see you.”

Yarwood said Burns remained at the scene and performed field sobriety tests that indicated she was not impaired by alcohol or drugs. An Ohio State Highway Patrol report confirms that, saying Burns “displayed no signs of impairment.” No toxicology testing was done on her, the report states.

Yarwood said he did not agree with a presentence report that said Burns should get jail time. He said every case of this type he has handled in the past involved no jail time.

After the hearing was over, Ken Cardinal, assistant county prosecutor, said he agreed with the presentence investigation that said not giving Burns jail time would “demean the seriousness of the offense,” adding: “Somebody died.”

WIDOW SPEAKS

Angelina Paynter, widow of Stephen Paynter, said after the hearing she thought it was “ridiculous” that it took nine months for Burns to be punished.

“She took my best friend away,” Paynter said of Burns, adding that Burns’ attorney “acted like it was (her husband’s) fault because he didn’t see (Burns). She’s the one who failed to yield.”

Angelina Paynter said her husband was “always careful with a bike. He was always watching out for other people, always.” She added that her husband was behind another vehicle just prior to the crash, but “If she didn’t see his bike, there’s no way she didn’t hear his bike. His bike was loud. A Harley is a loud bike,” she said.

Paynter said she accepts the crash as “an accident” and has a daughter nearly the same age as Burns. “Accidents happen. I’ve got to move on. She took away our life in one split second. She took away a father of three children because she didn’t see him. And then she gets five days in jail? It just doesn’t seem justice.”

She said the loss of her husband has been hard on her children. “He’s mad about the situation. He is mad that he doesn’t have his dad. His dad will never see him graduate from high school,” she said of her youngest child, who recently turned 18.