NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A Montgomery County jury is now trying to decide if a deadly crash in Conshohocken was an accident or a crime.
Leah Cielo is facing charges including homicide by vehicle in connection with the death of 80-year-old Bruce Collins on Jan. 31, 2018.
Collins was killed when Cielo hit him as he crossed Fayette Street at 4th Street in a marked crosswalk on his way to church.
Cielo told police she'd just left her house and was on her way to work. She tried to clear some water spots on her windshield, but the washer fluid froze on the windshield and Cielo told police the defogger made it worse. About three blocks later, she hit Collins, saying she saw the man with him, but she never saw him.
Cielo says, when her windshield fogged up she wanted to pull over but was worried about causing an accident.
Instead, investigators say, Cielo traveled 250 yards and was going about 30 miles per hour right before she hit Collins.
Cielo's lawyer calls it a freak accident, saying Cielo did the best she could in a dangerous situation.
But prosecutors argue it's homicide because she knew she was having a problem seeing out her windshield and didn't do enough to correct it, and that caused Collins' death.
