Woman sentenced in fraud case connected to boy’s death

UPDATE @ 9:12 a.m. Aug. 18

The woman who admitted to stealing money she raised for a Clark County family, whose child was hit and killed by an alleged drunk driver, was sentenced by a judge this morning.

Tina Harper was sentenced to two months in jail.

EARLIER

Tina Harper of Springfield Twp. pleaded guilty to telecommunications fraud for stealing from money she collected for the family of Tyree King, a 13-year-old neighbor who was killed by an alleged drunk driver in June.

Harper was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday morning. But in court, Judge Douglas Rastatter postponed the sentencing and told the prosecutor and defense lawyer he believes Harper didn’t necessarily commit the crime she is being charged with.

The judge didn’t deny Harper stole the money, but asked Clark County Prosecutor Andy Wilson for evidence that she schemed to steal the money before she began collecting it.

During the court hearing, Harper said she was embarrassed and that she let temptation of the money control her.

“It is an experience I have most definitely learned and will grow from,” Harper said tearfully as she read an apology to the judge and to Tyree’s mother and father, who sat in the courtroom.

Harper collected more than $2,800 online as part of a fund-raising effort for the King family, but investigators said she only gave the family a little more than $1,600 and pocketed the rest.

“I know I will be judged for what I did,” Harper said.

But Ebony Baker, Tyree’s mother, said she did not think Harper was truly remorseful for what she had done to the family.

“She said she’s the mother of three kids, too, so she should have felt what we were feeling, and instead she felt that was a payday,” Baker said.

Wilson called for Harper to be punished with jail time for the crime.

“If this defendant walks out of here today without handcuffs on her wrists, the system will have further emotionally harmed this crime that is crying out for justice,” Wilson said.

Wilson told Rastatter he had evidence Harper schemed to steal the money before she started collecting it and told donors the online website took a 25-percent cut of the money when it took less.

The judge postponed the sentencing hearing so both sides of the case could present more evidence to clarify if Harper’s crime matches the charge she pleaded to.

If the charge of telecommunications fraud still stands when Harper returns to court next week, she faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000, Wilson said.

She is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 8:30 a.m.

A Clark County grand jury in June indicted Charles Heard, 71, of 1020 Summer St., Springfield, on two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide with an alcohol specification in connection to King’s death, as well as two charges of driving under the influence.

Heard had a blood alcohol level of .177 following the crash, more than twice the legal limit, according to investigators,

King, a Possum Middle School student and basketball and football player, was walking with a friend in a neighbor’s yard along South Yellow Springs Street when he was struck by a truck driven by Heard, investigators said.