TOWSON, Md. — Home videos capture images of Deborah Limmer and her 5-year-old granddaughter, Delaney Gaddis, which now serve as painful reminders of two lives lost, leaving the young girl's father searching for words to describe a young life cut short.
"She was very fun, loving, just started to come out of her shell,” Brian Gaddis said. “She was getting ready to start kindergarten at the end of August, and she was just a bundle of joy for us."
Surveillance video from July 23, 2018, showed the doting grandmother pushing Delaney in a stroller up the sidewalk in the moments before an SUV driven by Callie Schwarzman would jump the curb with both of them squarely in its path.
A few months ago, Schwarzman agreed to plead guilty to two counts of automobile manslaughter in return for a 20-year sentence with all but 10 years suspended.
She will also face five years of probation upon her release.
Before handing down the sentence, the judge heard victim impact statements from the victims' families.
"There's no sentence that can possibly do justice to the loss of Debbie and Delaney,” said Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger. “I felt like the victim impact statements and the judge's sentence that she made, that it was the most difficult time that she's ever been in a courtroom in 35 years. I certainly don't disagree with that."
In addition to thanking those who responded to the scene, Delaney's mother offered a public appeal in hopes of sparing other families from suffering similar losses.
"I want to ask that you don't drive impaired,” Jennifer Gaddis said. “If you're on a dangerous road, be careful, and just don't be so impatient. Take your time driving. There are other people on the road. There are children on the sidewalk. Just think about other people, too."
Following the crash, police learned Schwarzman had drugs in her system and was heading to a methadone clinic when she lost control of the vehicle.
During the hearing, her attorney asked the judge to move her to a drug treatment program after she serves the first three years in prison, but prosecutors say they will take up that issue when the time comes.
This story was originally published by Jeff Hager on WMAR.
