Zachary Werner, 20, sentenced to state prison for fatal pedestrian hit-and-run

South Lebanon resident Zachary Werner will spend at least three years in state prison for fatally driving over 77-year-old Casimira Pakola and leaving the scene.

Werner, 20, was pulling out of his family’s driveway on the morning of April 30, 2024, when his car struck Pakola, who was walking at the side of Eastfield Drive. Werner was an 18-year-old high school senior at the time.

Investigators said Werner literally ran over Pakola, who died at the scene, then drove without stopping to Cedar Crest High School. There, he parked his Honda, which exhibited blood, hair, and visible damage, and went to class. The car was registered to his father, a retired state trooper.

He admitted his involvement later that morning when confronted by authorities.

Werner pleaded guilty in June to homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death or personal injury, involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, careless driving, and failing to report accident to police.

On Wednesday morning, Aug. 13, President Judge John Tylwalk sentenced Werner to three to ten years in state prison on the homicide by vehicle charge, which carried a mandatory three-year minimum for leaving the scene of an accident involving death.

Tylwalk also sentenced Werner to an additional one to three years for homicide by vehicle, which will be served concurrently.

The judge rejected 1st Assistant District Attorney Brian Deiderick’s request to make the homicide by vehicle sentence consecutive and impose a 4- to 15-year sentence.

Werner will not be permitted to drive a motor vehicle for 10 years after his release.

Pakola was married to Richard Pakola Sr., who could not be present, for 58 years at the time of her death. Her five children were in the packed courtroom, and her son, Richard Pakola Jr., addressed Tylwalk as Werner stood just feet away.

His voice cracking at times, Richard Pakola told Tylwalk that his mom, grandmother to nine, “loved everyone and everyone loved her. Everyone adored her and she loved everyone.”

While his mother loved being around people, he told Tylwalk “she died alone, violently. She went out for a walk and never came back.”

Pakola was thrown off Werner’s hood when struck, then run over and dragged by the car. “We could not even have an open casket funeral because she was profoundly disfigured,” Richard Pakola said.

In explaining his sentence, Tylwalk cited Werner’s young age, the fact that he had no criminal record, and that he had otherwise led a good life. He noted that there was no evidence that Werner was under the influence of anything, on his phone, or breaking any laws when he struck Pakola.

The judge also corrected Deiderick for suggesting that Werner might have been “flying through the neighborhood” at the time of the incident, pointing out that there was no indication of speeding.

Tylwalk and Deiderick agreed that Pakola might have lived had Werner stopped immediately or called 911 upon striking her.

Tylwalk added that a psychological evaluation of Werner revealed that he might have had undiagnosed mild autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder since birth, but the judge was clear that they had no impact on his choice of sentence.

Before the sentence was announced, Werner told Tylwalk, “I have no excuse or explanation for what happened.” Reading haltingly from notes, Werner added: “I don’t know why I didn’t stop. I never wanted to hurt anybody.”

Werner, who had been free on bail, will be transferred to Camp Hill state prison, the state’s diagnostic and classification center. From there he will be permanently assigned to a correctional facility.

Read More:

• Former Cedar Crest student faces prison after admitting to fatal hit-and-run
• Homicide by vehicle charge for 19-year-old who allegedly killed S. Lebanon Twp. resident in hit-and-run (Updated)
• Investigation ongoing into fatal South Lebanon Township hit-and-run in April