Cheri Duman caught her tears with a tissue in Adams County court Monday, as the driver who killed her husband read a note he wrote to her.
“In a flash of a moment, my life changed before my eyes,” said Robbie Lee Ridinger, also choking back tears. “I would give anything, do anything to change that moment.”
The 23-year-old Littlestown man admitted he was driving drunk May 29 when he failed to handle a sharp curve in the 1600 block of Bullfrog Road in Freedom Township, Adams County. He admitted he was speeding when he struck and killed 54-year-old Joe Duman Jr.
His attorney, Justin McShane of Harrisburg law firm McShane and Hitchings, said Ridinger has always shown remorse. And McShane stood by the young man as he pleaded guilty to charges of homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence and recklessly endangering the girl he was with that morning.
Ridinger promised to dedicate the rest of his life to Joe Duman’s memory.
Judge Michael George offered his sympathy to Cheri Duman.
To Ridinger, George said, “I wish we could put your remorse in a bottle.”
Ridinger accepted a plea agreement that requires him to spend 9 years in the county’s Intermediate Punishment Program, with the first four years at Adams County prison and the remaining time on probation.
Tuesday morning, Cheri Duman said she got what she’s been waiting for: “I got my apology.”
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