SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — In the early hours of December 1, 2023, at around 5:40 a.m., a Haitian national ran down 71-year-old Kathy Lynn Heaton, a Springfield grandmother known affectionately as "Mawmaw" by her beloved, in the quaint Midwestern community. The collision killed her, but the driver got off scot-free.
It was the morning after her 71st birthday, and Heaton, "a like-to-keep-busy kind of woman," was collecting trash cans outside her century-old home on Springfield-Xenia Road, a chore she's performed thousands of times for forty years.
That was when 38-year-old Robenson Louis, driving a 2012 Chrysler 200 at 45 mph, hit Heaton with so much blunt force that the sheer impact knocked her socks off and ripped out her silver hair, clumps of which were found snagged within the cracks of the sedan's shattered windshield, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol's crash report obtained by Townhall.
Heaton's socks (items "B" and "D" on the diagram) were strewn across the asphalt. Heaton herself (body marked "E") was thrown like a ragdoll to the other side of the street.
Within an hour or so, the coroner collected Heaton, and authorities cleared the debris-scattered scene by sunrise.
Days later, on December 4, 2023, two state troopers and a pair of prosecutors met to discuss the case "for any possible prosecution." However, they then decided that "no charges will be filed" against Louis, per the patrol's notes, despite him reportedly having an expired Indiana license plate.
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's office did not respond to Townhall's inquiry asking why Louis was never charged. Louis also did not reply when Townhall contacted him for comment.
"I was driving south on my way to work," Louis told a state trooper on-scene. "I didn't see nobody in the roadway at all. I'm not sure if she [Heaton] was already laying down."
It was wet and dark outside, Louis said, insisting that he never noticed Heaton, who was wearing a purple shirt at the time, in the light rain. "I didn't see her clothing. I didn't see her at all," he added.
According to the series of statements Louis provided, he was approximately 200 feet away from the crash site when he realized he had "hit something."
A witness waiting to take her child to school said she heard "a bang" followed by a long high-pitched squealing sound—Louis slamming on the car's brakes, she presumed.
Law enforcement ultimately faulted Heaton, who was struck while gathering garbage bins on trash pick-up day, saying she "improper[ly]" crossed the pavement.
Officials closed the case at the end of December, determining that "no further follow up is required" in the investigation.
More than nine months later, Heaton's family is still fighting to keep the case in the public eye, especially as stories of 20,000 Haitians overtaking the tiny town of Springfield continue to capture national attention.
Last week, Heaton's daughter-in-law, Mandy, delivered teary-eyed testimony at the Springfield City Commission meeting on September 10. There, the local lamented how her family was devastated to learn that Louis wouldn't face criminal charges.
Everyone is talking about the death of ducks and cats in this town, but I'd like to talk about the death of one very special person: my mother-in-law, Kathy Heaton.
On December 1, I received a phone call that changed my life forever. She was collecting her trash can from her driveway when a car struck and killed her instantly, a task she had done over 2,000 times spanning four decades in Springfield.
That morning, though, a Haitian immigrant was allegedly driving recklessly when he struck and killed her. I say 'allegedly,' because to this day, there's been no punishment, not even for the expired tags on the vehicle he was driving.
Months before she was killed, I began noticing the reckless driving and complete disregard for our driving laws by some members of the Haitian community. It made me angry, but now my anger has turned to fear for the safety of my family and the citizens of Springfield.
[...]
I'm living in fear in my own city. It's not safe. I am paralyzed with anxiety when I'm getting my children out of the car in any parking lot, walking on any sidewalk, and driving on any road in this town.
I'm haunted by the faces I saw when I had to bear the news to my children and husband that she was dead. Their grandmother, the very person who tucked my seven-year-old twins into bed just six hours before on her 71st birthday, was never coming back.
What everyone has feared is my reality and it's my grief, and it should be yours as well. It saddens me greatly to think about leaving a place I've made a home [and] raised my children...
Heaton's son, Chris, said he did not have the strength to speak about "the senseless killing of my mother."
"There is nothing that will offset the heartbreak of knowing my mother died after tucking my children into bed, us singing her happy birthday that evening, or the sight of her walking out of my house unaware that would be the last time we'd speak," Chris, appearing alongside his wife, told the city commissioners.
According to Heaton's obituary, she "loved thrift shopping and could rarely pass up a bargain, but never for herself, only for her family. She will be deeply missed." Source: Jackson Lytle & Lewis Life Celebration Center
Chris, instead, pleaded with local leaders to pass "Kathy's Law," a public safety bill that would require all foreign nationals seeking an Ohio driver's license to pass the same tests taken by American citizens.
Since they arrived in 2020, the Haitians in Springfield have not "acclimated to the laws, the rights, [and] the responsibilities associated with being an American citizen," particularly when it comes to the rules regulating the operation of a motor vehicle, Chris said.
"Support our cause to ensure that driving regulations are equally enforced because we will not rest until justice is served for Kathy," he implored.
Haitians who are here under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) can acquire a temporary driver's license that's valid for the length they're authorized to stay in the United States, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says.
Specifically in Ohio, if an alien has a driver's license from a foreign country, it is considered valid in the Buckeye State, according to The Springfield News-Sun. So, Haitian nationals can drive legally there via a foreign ID for up to one year or until they establish residency.
According to a now-deleted U.S. State Department advisory on the dangerous travel conditions in Haiti, "roads are generally unmarked" in the Third World country, "signs indicating the direction of traffic flow seldom exist," and few streets have lane indicators, so "drivers use whichever side of the road is open to them."
Speeding is the norm in Haiti, as speed limits are typically ignored, if they are even posted at all. Right of way is not widely observed. Haitian drivers "can be quite aggressive" and will rarely yield, the State Department site said.
Social media footage posted by Springfield residents has shown cars flying into oncoming traffic, crashing through residences, smashing up businesses, and flipping over.
Concerned community members say it's a regular sight in Springfield: reckless Haitian drivers heading the wrong way down one-way streets, making unlawful turns, taking out street sights, and damaging private property like people's garages. Some say the accident rate has tripled and that insurance companies are not covering Springfield's seniors due to costs skyrocketing.
As for the Heaton family, they have experienced first-hand the horrifying consequences of allowing such ill-vetted motorists to be behind the wheel.
Heaton, however, is not the only fatality in Springfield caused by a dangerous Haitian driver.
Just three months prior to Heaton's death, on August 22, 2023, 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed when a Haitian national driving without a valid U.S. license (he had a foreign one from Mexico) rammed into a school bus, causing it to overturn and crush the elementary school student, who was ejected out of the emergency hatch, on his first day of class. Dozens of other children were hospitalized with injuries.
36-year-old Hermanio Joseph had jumped across the center line and swerved into the opposite lane on State Route 41. Earlier this year, Joseph was convicted of killing Clark and sentenced to an indefinite term of nine to 13.5 years in prison, plus several years of post-release control. Joseph's time behind bars will be revisited based on behavior and other factors. During sentencing, Judge Douglas Rastatter ruled that Joseph deserved "some degree of mercy and grace, but not much," according to The Springfield News-Sun.
Source: Ohio State Highway Patrol
Clark's father, Nathan, also appeared at the City Hall forum last Tuesday to speak out against the "hate" and "intolerance" he's seen directed toward the Haitians, saying he wishes a white man had killed Aiden instead.
"I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old white man," the deceased child's dad declared. "I bet you never thought anyone would say something so blunt, but if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone."
To "clear the air," Clark said Aiden was "not murdered" but killed by accident. Aiden was "accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti," he said of the tragedy. "Don't spin this towards hate."
NAACP Springfield, which has emerged as a vocal proponent of the Haitian occupation, is proposing a Haitian driver's ed program to prevent more car crashes.
The city of Springfield announced that it's starting "a first-of-its-kind" driver training course in conjunction with the state of Ohio while Springfield City Schools is currently conducting driver education for Haitian Creole speakers.
Amid the surge of dangerous and deadly Haitian driving, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has sent additional State Highway Patrol troopers to Springfield to restore order on the roads. DeWine said that their deployment will support the Springfield Police Department in enforcing traffic laws. OSHP units will be patrolling local roads with the "highest crash rates" and "hold accountable any driver who drives erratically and risks the safety of others."
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