Woman pleads guilty in child's death

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WDTN) - A Clark County woman pleaded guilty, July 31, 2012, in connection to the death of a child killed in an August 2011 car crash.

Hannah Gough, of Medway, admitted to a charge of vehicular manslaughter in Clark County Municipal Court.

Five-year-old Lauren Drummond was killed when the car she was riding in was rear-ended on US 40 in Bethel Township.

The victim's father, Jaye Drummond, was driving his family home from an afternoon picnic when he stopped to let some deer cross the road. That's when police said Gough slammed into the back of his van.

The Drummond's didn't want to talk after the hearing, but have told 2 NEWS in the past they think Gough was texting at the time.

Gough's lawyer says that wasn't the case.

"This was not a case where there was any activity other than assured clear distance," says Gough's attorney Jon Paul Rion. "There was emphatically no texting. There wasn't any other behavior on her part that caused this."

Prosecutors say Gough sent a text earlier but they couldn't prove she was texting at the time she hit the Drummond's.

Gough's lawyer says she passed a letter to Lauren's mother at court. What it said only they know.

"We drafted a letter we handed on mother to mother explaining how deeply she feels about this accident, how it will haunt her the rest of her life," Rion says. "This is not a good event for anybody."

Gough could face up to 90 days in jail. Prosecutor's tell 2 NEWS they think jail time is appropriate for her, while Gough's attorney thinks probation would be better.

Gough will be sentenced at a later date.