UPDATED SATURDAY, SEPT. 16
Prince Frederick, MD – A St. Mary’s County woman who pleaded guilty in July to single counts of negligent manslaughter with an automobile and failure to stop at the scene of an accident involving a fatality was sentenced Friday afternoon, Sept. 15 in Calvert County Circuit Court. The rear-end collision that occurred during the early-morning hours of Dec. 15 on northbound Route 2/4 near Rousby Hall Road in Lusby claimed the life of Southern Maryland resident Ronald Joseph “Ronnie” Ball, 32, (pictured left) a St. Mary’s Ryken High School graduate who was employed as a finance manager at Toyota of Southern Maryland.
The defendant, Lindsay Leanne Canter, 33 of Lexington Park (pictured below, right), worked as a registered nurse. After listening to the allocution of Assistant State’s Attorney Andrew Rappaport and defense attorney Gil Cochran and statements from friends and family of both Ball and Canter, Judge E. Gregory Wells imposed a 15 year sentence with all but four years suspended. Canter is to serve her sentence in state prison, will be on five years’ probation following her release and will be required to perform 100 hours of community service.
According to police, the crash involving Ball’s 2009 Nissan 370Z and Canter’s 2012 Ford Mustang occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. Canter told police her vehicle struck Ball’s Nissan in the rear while the two were racing. “Ball’s vehicle traveled off the roadway and overturned,” Deputy Timothy Mohler of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office stated in court documents. “Canter admitted to stopping at the scene, admitted to approaching Ball’s vehicle, admitted to seeing Ball covered in blood and possibly deceased and admitted to then fleeing the scene. Before fleeing the scene, Canter told other witnesses of the crash she had a suspended license and needed to leave. Canter, a nurse, chose not to give medical attention to Ball.”
Ronald Ball was transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
At the sentencing, Ball’s family and friends wore T-shirts with his face on the front and occupied most of the benches in the courtroom. Rappaport noted Canter was intoxicated with a .17 breath alcohol concentration when the crash occurred and was driving while suspended. Despite attending an alcohol recovery program, the defendant continued to drink. Furthermore, her statement submitted during a pre-sentence investigation was described by the prosecuting attorney as “self-serving. It’s all about her. All she’s trying to do is rationalize” for not stopping to offer aid.
“There’s no excuse for what has been done,” Ball’s close friend Adam Nogle told the court. Describing Ball as a person who put his family and friends above himself, Nogle stated the defendant was “the exact opposite” of his late friend.
Ball’s mother, Linda, described her son as “so handsome, so friendly with so many friends. Every day of my life I cry.” She noted the empty feeling she had 10 days after the crash—Christmas Day—with all of her son’s gifts left under the tree unopened. She called Canter “a very heartless person.”
Ball’s sister, Crystal McKenzie, tearfully read a letter written by one of the victim’s nephews. She added her brother “will be a part of us.”
A coworker, an ex-boyfriend and a close friend all spoke on behalf of the defendant, who they described as a dedicated professional who was proud to be a nurse.
“She’s truly one of my favorite people in the world,” said Erica Humphreys, who like Canter is a registered nurse. “She is the kind of friend I could count on.” While Humphreys offered sympathy to Ball’s family, she affirmed the Dec. 15 incident “truly was an accident.”
“She’s not selfish,” stated Canter’s friend Sarah Oliver. “She would not purposely hurt anyone. It was an accident.”
In defending his client, Cochran described the crash as the result of “road rage” on the part of both Canter and Ball, adding they were having “a drag race. The speed contest ended with one dead.”
Both Cochran and Canter made reference to a relationship the defendant had with Ronald Ball, a contention Ball’s family steadfastly denies. According to Canter, following the crash she went to Ball’s vehicle. “I’ll never forget what I saw when I opened that door,” said Canter. “I did not know how to help my friend. I was in shock. I will always be a nurse. That doesn’t make me super-human. I agree that Ronnie was an amazing person. I really did care for him. I’m so sorry this happened.”
“You made some very bad decisions,” Wells told Canter. “It seems like you should have called for someone. The decent thing to do would have been to call 911.”
The judge told those gathered in the courtroom that he had to do justice to Ball, the community and also to Canter. “At some point Ms. Canter is going to have to come back to this community,” said Wells.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
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Prince Frederick, MD – A St. Mary’s County woman indicted in March in connection with a December crash in Calvert that claimed the life of an Anne Arundel County man pleaded guilty late last week to two of the nine counts she was facing. The defendant, Lindsay Leanne Canter, 32 of Lexington Park, pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter with an automobile and failure to stop at the scene of an accident involving a fatality. The plea was entered in Calvert County Circuit Court Friday, July 7 during a status hearing. Canter was to have gone to trial this summer on the charges.
The charges stem from a crash that occurred during the early morning hours of Dec. 15 on northbound Route 2/4 near Rousby Hall Road in Lusby. Canter admitted to Calvert County Sheriff’s Office detectives that she had been speeding and racing in her 2012 Ford Mustang with Ronald Joseph Ball, 32, (pictured, right) who was operating a 2009 Nissan 370 Z. According to a sheriff’s office report, the Mustang struck the Nissan in the rear, causing it to go off the roadway and into an embankment after overturning. Ball was transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to charging documents, Canter told detectives she had a relationship with Ball, a claim Ball’s family strongly denies. “Canter admitted to stopping at the scene, admitted to approaching Ball’s vehicle, admitted seeing Ball covered in blood and possibly deceased and admitted to then fleeing the scene,” Deputy Mohler of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office stated in court papers. “Before fleeing the scene, Canter told other witnesses of the crash she had a suspended license and needed to leave. Canter, a nurse, chose not to give medical attention to Ball.”
A pre-sentence investigation was ordered and sentencing has tentatively been set for Sept. 15 at 1 p.m.
Calvert County Assistant State’s Attorney Andrew Rappaport told TheBayNet.com that Canter could get a maximum of 10 years for each count and a fine of $10,000.
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Lusby, MD – Documents on file in Maryland District Court Prince Frederick chronicle an almost surreal aftermath to a motor vehicle collision that claimed the life of a Southern Maryland man Thursday morning, Dec. 15. The crash involving a 2009 Nissan 370Z and a 2012 Ford Mustang occurred 1:30 a.m. near the intersection of northbound Solomons Island Road (Route 2/4) near Rousby Hall Road in Lusby. The driver of the Nissan, Ronald Joseph Ball, 32, was transported to Calvert Memorial Hospital (CMH) where he was pronounced dead.
The driver of the Mustang, Lindsay Leanne Canter, also 32—of Lexington Park, fled the scene after the collision. The investigating officer, Deputy Mohler of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, stated in court documents that Canter’s blue-colored Ford was subsequently located on H.G. Trueman Road and Town Square Boulevard, and finally came to a stop on Thunderbird Drive in Lusby. Deputies put Canter through a series of tests at the scene of the traffic stop. Later, at the sheriff’s office, she was administered a breath test, resulting in a .17 breath alcohol concentration (BrAC). She was also taken to CMH for a blood draw.
According to Mohler, it was during an interview with personnel from the sheriff’s office’s Criminal Investigation Bureau that investigators began to discover a few other layers to the case. “Canter admitted to speeding and racing Ball, with whom she had a relationship,” Mohler stated. “In addition, Canter admitted to hitting Ball’s vehicle from behind while the two were racing. As a result of Canter hitting Ball’s vehicle, Ball’s vehicle traveled off the roadway and overturned. Canter admitted to stopping at the scene, admitted to approaching Ball’s vehicle, admitted to seeing Ball covered in blood and possibly deceased and admitted to then fleeing the scene. Before fleeing the scene, Canter told other witnesses of the crash she had a suspended license and needed to leave.”
Mohler added, “Canter, a nurse, chose not to give medical attention to Ball.”
The victim, Ronald Joseph Ball, was a 2002 graduate of St. Mary’s Ryken High School who worked at Toyota of Southern Maryland as the finance manager. Services for Ball were held Tuesday, Dec. 20 at Lee Funeral Home in Owings. The funeral home identified Ball as originally from St. Mary’s County and living in Lothian at the time of his death.
Police have charged Canter with single counts of negligent manslaughter with an automobile, negligent automobile homicide while under the influence and homicide with a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol. She could face 18 years in jail and $13,000 in fines in connection with those charges. A hearing on the charges has been tentatively scheduled for Feb. 15 in District Court. Canter has denied bond Monday, Dec. 19 and remains incarcerated.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com