CORRECTION:
Because of a Republic error, the full Level 3 felony charge that Eric Winship pleaded guilty to was incorrect in a A1 Tuesday story. As part of a plea bargain, Winship pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident after committing the crime of operating while intoxicated causing the death of Kyla Ortlieb. Ortlieb’s death is part of the Level 3 felony guilty plea.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A local man accused of hitting and killing a bicyclist and leaving the scene has agreed to a plea agreement in Bartholomew Circuit Court.
Eric M. Winship, 28, of 3885 Rosewood Court, pleaded guilty Monday to leaving the scene of an accident as a Level 3 felony and unlawful possession of a syringe as a Level 6 felony, appearing before Judge Kelly Benjamin.
However, the felony charge that directly connected Winship to the Oct. 20, 2019 death of Kyla Ortlieb — causing death when operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated as a Level 4 felony — will be dismissed as part of the plea agreement, according to court documents.
Also dropped were charges from two earlier 2019 felony cases involving Winship including possession of methamphetamine as a Level 5 felony, possession of a narcotic as a Level 6 felony, unlawful possession of a syringe as a Level 6 felony and three misdemeanor charges.
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Winship will face up to 12-and-a-half years in prison, as well as fines of up to $20,000, when he is sentenced by Benjamin at 10:15 a.m. Oct. 22. Prior to Monday’s hearing and the plea bargain, Winship was facing the possibility of 30-and-a-half years in prison, as well as fines of up to $30,000, if convicted of all counts.
About two dozen protestors had gathered outside the courthouse at 10 a.m. Monday carrying signs asking for “justice” for Ortlieb.
The hearing began with Winship appearing by video conference from the jail, but was then postponed to 1 p.m. to allow a request from public defender William E. Happel for Winship to be in the courtroom so he could consult with his attorney.
When the hearing resumed at 1 p.m., the number of protestors was down to about 10.
Protest organizer Angela Lloyd said she feels “the system” is enabling drug addicts, adding she believes that is was the root cause for Ortlieb’s death.
“(Winship) should have still been in jail (last October), and Kyla would still have her life right now,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd said she and the other protestors are seeking “the right kind of justice that is deserved by both the victim and her family.”
During the investigation last October, a witness told Columbus police she was driving west on 11th Street at about 11:15 p.m. Oct. 20 when she stopped at Chestnut and saw a woman riding a bicycle west along 11th Street on the sidewalk, the affidavit stated. The bicyclist cut over in front of the witness’ car and traveled south across 11th Street on the east side of Chestnut, the probable cause affidavit stated.
The bicyclist was about halfway through the intersection when an older model SUV ran the stop sign and struck the woman on the bicycle, the affidavit stated. The witness said the SUV was going at least 40 mph. Another witness told police she was smoking on her front porch in the 900 block of 11th Street and saw the woman on the bicycle, and also saw a red GMC Jimmy strike her, the affidavit stated.
Police located a red GMC Jimmy near 12th and Union streets, and shoes on the sidewalk west of it, but no one around it, the affidavits states. The vehicle was still running, with the lights on and the keys in it, according to the affidavit. When police ran the license plate, they determined the registered owner was Sandra Winship, mother of Eric Winship, the affidavit stated.
Sandra Winship confirmed that Eric Winship had been staying with her, and on Friday had left with the Jimmy, and returned at around 10:30 a.m. Monday on foot, limping, the affidavit states.
“When she asked Eric what had happened, he replied, ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t know.’ He told her that he didn’t know where the Jimmy was. He told her that he had been ‘so tore up’ the night before, that he couldn’t remember anything. She took that to mean that he had ‘blacked out’ from drugs,” the affidavit states.
Winship’s mother told police that Eric had long struggled with addiction and she had planned to take him directly to a drug treatment facility, the affidavit stated. On their way to his grandmother’s home, Eric Winship learned through social media that someone had been killed by a hit-and-run driver driving a red GMC Jimmy, according to the affidavit.
Eric Winship began to weep and told his mother, “I think I hit somebody,” and “Now I’ve got to get right with God.”
Officers found him at that home and the grandmother told them Eric Winship was in the bathroom, the affidavit stated. After numerous delays, the officers forcibly entered the bathroom where they found him attempting to inject methamphetamine, the affidavit stated.
In an interview with police, Eric Winship said initially he knew he hit something and he ran, the affidavits stated. Later in the interview, Eric Winship admitted driving the SUV and hitting the bicyclist, the probable cause affidavit states. He told police he then ran, hid and then fell asleep.
As Winship was asked questions Monday by both Benjamin and Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash, Winship initially showed little to no emotion. However, his voice broke after Nash asked if the defendant understood he killed the 21-year-old Ortlieb when he ran a stop sign at night at the intersection of 11th and Chestnut streets.
But when Nash asked if he realized he fled the scene of a fatal accident, Winship quickly regained his composure while giving brief yes-or-no answers to the questions.
