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$100,000 Bond Set for Mom Accused in Daughter's Death: Police Say Woman Was Driving Drunk Before Fatal Crash

Posted on: Sunday, 12 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By Dean Narciso, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Mar. 12--A $100,000 bond was set yesterday for a Prairie Township woman accused of killing her 6-year-old daughter in a crash last month.

Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Dan Cable called Kelly Volpe a danger to the public and said she "has a very high incentive" to flee town and skip her March 20 preliminary hearing.

Volpe, 40, of 7777 Feder Rd., is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, a second-degree felony, and with misdemeanor charges of drunken driving, driving under suspension and other lesser charges.

She waived her right to appear before Municipal Court Judge Ted Barrows.

Her attorney, Michelle Kazar, entered a not-guilty plea on the misdemeanor charges and no plea on the felony charge.

Volpe has eight drunken-driving convictions.

"She does not seem to listen to people in black robes very well," Cable said.

Witnesses told police that Volpe was weaving in and out of traffic along Riverside Drive on Feb. 24 before she veered off the road and into a stand of trees. Her daughter, Abigail, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the pickup truck and died.

Police suspect Volpe was intoxicated, although she refused an alcohol test.

Volpe checked into Ohio State University Harding Hospital after the crash. She was released on Friday and taken by police to the Franklin County jail.

"I don't think anybody's going to bail her out," said Louis Volpe Sr., Abigail's grandfather.

Mr. Volpe, 74, said he and his son Louis Volpe Jr. -- Kelly Volpe's husband and Abigail's father -- have been struggling with the girl's death.

"I just lost a beautiful granddaughter," he said. "It's been very, very difficult. We're all going to miss her."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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