The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

November 20, 2009

Vehicular homicide, drugged driving nets woman jail time

By Matt Snyder

FINDLEY TOWNSHIP — The wife of trucker Charles H. Payton Sr., Glen Burnie, Md., testified at the sentencing of Payton’s killer, a Harrisville woman who hit him with her pickup in 2007 while overdosed on prescription medication.

Lou Ellen Payton tearfully told the court Friday that Payton was the love of her life. “I love him every day, I miss him every day.”

She called her husband an average working guy who was just out trying to do his job. On Oct. 15, 2007, he had pulled his tractor-trailer off the eastbound ramp of Interstate 79 at the Interstate 80 junction in Findley Township.

That’s when Heidi May Wise, 33, who had five times the appropriate dosage of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax in her system, hit Payton and sent him flying 100 feet through the air, police said. He died at the scene.

“She should be accountable for the death of my husband,” Mrs. Payton said.

Payton’s son, Richard E. Walters, also testified. “I have a daughter who’s 12 years old. She loved her grandfather very much, and she’ll never see him again.” He urged authorities to make sure Ms. Wise never drives again.

Mercer County Common Pleas Judge Thomas R. Dobson said Ms. Wise will probably lose her license for good because of many prior accidents. He sentenced her to 10 to 23 months in jail with 116 days’ credit for time already served. She will also spend 2 years on probation.

Walters walked out of the courtroom after hearing Ms. Wise’s sentence, but before Dobson had completed his order.

Ms. Wise apologized to Payton’s family, saying she wished she could take back what she did that day. She said she prays for them, and hopes to tell others what happened that day to prevent it from happening again.

Ms. Wise pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to homicide by vehicle, drugged driving, and a lane violation.

Before the accident, Ms. Wise was followed on I-79 by a witness who saw her cross the lines at least 10 times. The witness tried to call 911, but there was no cell phone service.

Ms. Wise told police she had a “fetish” for hitting the rumble strips because of the sound they made and had been hitting them intentionally. There were no rumble strips on the exit ramp, police said.

At the scene, Ms. Wise had glassy eyes, swayed, had her pants unbuttoned, slurred her speech, and seemed sluggish, police said. They said they discovered her 60-pill prescription of Xanax had only 46 pills left, even though it had recently been refilled and should have contained 58 or 59 pills.

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