NORTH TONAWANDA, NY - A man from Lewiston avoided jail time Tuesday when he was sentenced for the crash that left another man dead.
James Edel, 53, was lying in the middle of the road on Erie Avenue in North Tonawanda when someone hit him and took off. No one's sure how he ended up in the road before he was hit.
He died from his injuries.
The man who hit him, George Spizzirri, said it was an accident. And once he realized what happened, he called police and fully cooperated. He did later admit that he may have hit a person, yet he kept driving.
He was then charged with a felony, but ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an injury accident.
Tuesday morning in North Tonawanda City Court, a judge sentenced him to probation.
Defense Attorney Michael Kooshoian said, "He's been extremely remorseful. He's in therapy. From the beginning when I first met him back in February of last year, he's been concerned and just remorseful again Mr. Edel's loss of his life and terribly sorry that he was a part of it."
James Edel's family told us they agree with Spizzirri and the judge - that this was an accident.
But they still don't have closure, because no one knows exactly what happened.
Edel's two children plan to file a civil lawsuit in this case.