Waterfield given three months of active jail time for careless driving

By Linda Cicoira

An Oak Hall woman was sentenced Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to three months of active time in jail for her careless driving that tragically killed another local woman and injured two others in April 2023. All three were pedestrians walking beside Nock’s Landing Road near Atlantic.

Thirty-seven-year-old Jessica Greenley Waterfield was given a 12-month sentence with nine months suspended. Judge Tanya Bullock also ordered the defendant to take a traffic safety or driver’s safety course. The judge would not allow Waterfield, who has been on bond since just after she was arrested, to delay reporting to the Accomack Jail.

In March, a jury acquitted Waterfield of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 26-year-old Erika Cherrelle Bailey, of Parksley. Thirty-nine-year-old Duane Lee Turner and Bailey’s seven-year-old daughter were injured when Waterfield’s 2021 Honda Pilot struck them. Bailey was thrown across Nock’s Landing Road killing her on impact. Turner and the girl suffered serious bodily injuries and landed in the ditch.

At the trial, Waterfield said she did not know how long she had taken her eyes off the road when she attempted to keep her toddler, who was in the backseat of her vehicle, from choking due to sinus issues. Waterfield had taken one hand off the steering wheel and was trying to push up her three-year-old daughter’s head.

“I couldn’t reach her,” Waterfield said. “As I was turning back around, I heard the front end of the car hit something.”

She voiced remorse Thursday and said the incident will forever affect her.

Waterfield was struck in the neck by her airbag. She said she did not know what happened until she got out of her car. She never saw the victims before the crash.

Morgan asked the jury to find Waterfield guilty of both charges contending that her negligence caused the death. “This constitutes a gross indifference to human life,” the prosecutor said. “Nothing outside the moving vehicle mattered to her.”

Defense lawyer Tom Northam argued there was no criminal negligence. He said although she was speeding, she was not going 20 miles per hour over the limit, which would have constituted reckless driving. “We acknowledge that she turned away momentarily … taking her eyes off the road has happened to anyone. A mother’s instinct does not reach the level of criminal,” he added.

Evidence from the Honda’s sensors showed Waterfield was going about 55 mph when she struck the pedestrians. She never used her break or veered off the road. Testimony disclosed it was a clear day and the crash occurred on a straightaway. No alcohol or drug use was indicated for Waterfield or the victims.

A victim impact letter from a member of Bailey’s family was not read aloud in court but was said to include details of pain and anguish.