Man Sentenced For Hit-And-Run That Killed Hudson Valley Mother

A local man was sentenced for fatally hitting a Hudson Valley mother of three with his truck and fleeing the scene.

On Monday in Orange County Court, 38-year-old Stephen Grundel of Wallkill was sentenced to one to three years in state prison following his guilty plea of leaving the scene of an incident without report.

The plea was in connection with the death of a woman who was walking along the road when she was struck by Grundel's pick-up truck just before midnight on March 30, on State Street in the Town of Mount Hope in March.

Grundell confessed he knew he hit someone with his 2000 Silverado pick-up truck and had reason to believe he caused an injury to the person he hit, failed to stop the truck to see who he hit and left the scene without either looking to see who he hit or notifying authorities.

The woman, 34-year-old Keira Babcock of Otisville, a mother of three, was pronounced dead at the scene after being discovered by passing motorists the next morning.

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“The state prison sentence that my office recommended, and which the judge issued, was clearly appropriate since the defendant left a severely injured and dying woman in the roadway, in the cold, and in the dark, without alerting the police, or calling for help” Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said. “Although not all traffic fatalities are criminal, there was no excuse for not stopping and reporting this incident, and making some attempt to save the victim.”

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