A woman who struck and killed a motorcyclist while painting her fingernails received jail time at her sentencing Thursday.
Lora Hunt, 49, who was convicted this past May of reckless homicide in a Lake Zurich accident, received 18 months periodic imprisonment and 30 months probation.
The victim in the case, Anita Zaffke, was sitting on her bike at an intersection when Hunt's Chevy Impala slammed into her about 50 mph. Zaffke was thrown several hundred feet and later died at a hospital.
Her son said Thursday that he felt the judge's decision was fair.
"We appreciate Judge Foreman's ackowledgement of the epidemic of distracted driving, and the need to apply a sentence that will serve as a warning for all motorists," said Greg Zaffke II.
Hunt testified that she had been painting her nails, but put the polish aside as she approached the intersection of Route 12 and Old McHenry Road.
During the trial, Defense attorney Jeff Tomczak argued that other motorists around Zaffke's motorcycle went through the intersection on a yellow light. Zaffke stopped, giving Hunt "less than a half-second to react."
Tomczak said that while painting her nails was a "very, very stupid thing," the crash was just an accident, not an act of negligence.
"I only hoped that Judge Foreman would have considered more of her good deeds and the wondful things we heard about her, as I think the sentence, as it stands, basically doesn't incorporate any of those things," Tomczak said after the sentencing.
The eight-woman, four-man jury disagreed, convicting Hunt in just three-and-a-half hours after being handed the case.
"I have not had a client, in 25 years, that has shown more remorse, more grief [and] more sympathy for the victim's family than Lora Hunt," said Tomczak on the day the jury reached its verdict.
