Lacy Maxwell, who pleaded guilty in August to charges related to the hit-and-run death of Starllie Swonyoung, was sentenced last week to up to seven years in state prison by Ulster County Judge Bryan Rounds.
On January 10 of this year, Swonyoung and her friend Jonathan Rowan were walking on Route 9W between Malden-on-Hudson and Saugerties at aapproximately 5:10 p.m. when Swonyoung was struck by a 2021 Subaru operated by Lacy Maxwell, who then left the scene without checking on the welfare of the victim or reporting the incident to 911 or police. The next day, she and codefendant Ryan Maxwell staged an accident to cover up for the damage sustained to the vehicle from the hit-and-run, and then submitted a claim to their insurance company.
On Tuesday, August 20, Lacy Maxwell pleaded guilty to Leaving the Scene of an Incident Resulting in Death and the felony of Insurance Fraud in the 3rd Degree. Ryan Maxwell, pleaded guilty to Insurance Fraud in the 5th Degree for trying to help her in misleading the insurance company and covering up the actual cause of the damage to their car.
In the November 20 sentencing, Lacy Maxwell received 2 1/3-to-seven years for Leaving the Scene of an Incident Resulting in Death, and 1 1/3-to-four years for Insurance Fraud. Both charges are felonies, and both sentences will be served concurrently and were the maximum allowable under the law.
During the sentencing, Rowan spoke of his friendship with Swonyoung, and said he has vivid flashbacks to January 10 as he struggled to help his friend following the incident.
“She was devastatingly intelligent, uncompromisingly kind and wiser than people twice her age,” Rowan said. “She was imperfect and complicated and 21 years old,” he said.
Ryan Maxwell is scheduled to appear before Judge Rounds on Friday, January 17 to be sentenced to three years’ probation.
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