AMHERST — An Amherst man driving a school van that struck and killed a woman walking on West Street last month will be arraigned Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown on a charge of negligent motor vehicle homicide, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office.
Richard Fuhrman, 65, is also facing a civil infraction of failure to stop at a stop sign in connection with the death of Eva Fenner, 88, on Sept. 11, said Mary Carey, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. Fenner was struck near the entrance to Crocker Farm School.
Amherst Police, Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Northwestern district attorney’s office, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services investigated the incident.
Based on the investigation, police allege that at around 11 a.m., a school van being operated by Fuhrman exited Crocker Farm School at 280 West St. without coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. The school van then struck and killed Fenner, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fenner lived a short distance from the school at 188 West St. and was a regular walker in the neighborhood, according to neighbors earlier interviewed by the Gazette. A native of Germany, Fenner had lived at her Amherst home since 1964.
School officials referred all questions about the crash to the district attorney’s office.
Negligent motor vehicle homicide is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 2½ years in the House of Correction. A conviction carries a 15-year loss of license.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
