Friday, January 07, 2000
Driver's alcohol level cited in teacher's death
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Jill Ott's blood alcohol level was more than 21/2 times the legal limit on Dec. 26 when her car struck a neighbor who later died, Holy Cross High School teacher Susan Schlarman, according to court testimony.
Ms. Ott, 32, appeared for a preliminary hearing Thursday on charges of murder, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. Judge Mickey Foellger of Campbell District Court bound her over to a Campbell County grand jury and continued her $500,000 bond.
She is accused of hitting her neighbor in front of Mrs. Schlarman's home on Brentwood Place in Fort Thomas. Ms. Ott also lived on Brentwood Place, two houses away.
Two sets of samples
Fort Thomas Police Sgt. Wayne Turner told the judge that two sets of blood and urine samples were taken at St. Luke Hospital East the night of the accident, one of which was sent to the state forensic lab in Frankfort and the other for the hospital.
Although results from the state samples have not returned, the hospital gave police the results of its tests, which showed a blood alcohol level of 0.261. The legal limit for driving in Kentucky is 0.10. The urine test also showed traces of cocaine in Ms. Ott's system, Sgt. Turner said.
Alcohol and medication
Police said Ms. Ott told them she had been drinking at a Fort Thomas bar, where she consumed two shots of tequila and four or five beers. She also was taking prescription medication that carried warnings that it was not to be taken with alcohol.
Sgt. Turner said witnesses told police they saw Ms. Ott driving her Saturn automobile moments before the accident, although her attorney, Harry Hellings, brought out that no
one actually witnessed the accident.
The accident report indicated Mrs. Schlarman, 40, a mother of four, was loading a box as the family prepared to move to a new home when she was struck and tossed into the air. A preliminary autopsy report indicated she died of massive head injuries.
An reconstruction by police showed Ms. Ott was traveling a minimum of 26 mph on Brentwood Place, which has a posted speed limit of 15 mph. The maximum possible speed she attained has not been determined.
After her car struck a second vehicle, Ms. Ott got out of her car and walked to her apartment, witnesses said.
Sgt. Turner, the first officer on the scene, told the court he could not immediately locate Ms. Ott. Eventually he was informed that she was in the home of her landlord. When she could not be located there, Sgt. Turner said, he found her in her own apartment, where he arrested her.
Although she told police she had not been drinking, Sgt. Turner said she smelled of alcohol and failed a field sobriety test.
Mr. Hellings asked Sgt. Turner whether Mrs. Schlarman was wearing dark clothing when she was struck, shortly after 8 p.m. He said she was wearing a red coat.
The lawyer also brought out testimony from police that Mrs. Schlarman was on the street side of her van loading a box of canned goods when she was hit. She died about eight hours later at University Hospital in Cincinnati.
If convicted of murder, Ms. Ott, who works as a domestic, could receive a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
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