Judge postpones sentencing for hit-and-run defendant

After minutes of deafening silence, Monroe County Circuit Judge Marc Kellams announced to the attorneys, defendant and parents of former student Ashley Crouse in court that he needed more time to mull over the sentencing for Meliton Praxedis. \nPraxedis, 21, pleaded guilty to class C felony charges Dec. 14 for fleeing the scene of an accident resulting in the death of Crouse. He could face a maximum of eight years in prison. \n"It would be easy to assign the maximum sentence because of the loss of life," Kellams said. "But even that can do nothing to bring back this person's life to her family." \nKellams rescheduled the sentencing for Jan. 26.\nBoth of Crouse's parents testified to express their wishes for the maximum sentence. \n"My daughter was an exemplary student, a pillar in the community," said Kim Crouse, father of the victim. \nHe made a point to explain his daughter's aspirations to become a lawyer and public servant for the Hispanic population in Indiana. \n"But being the fact that the defendant watched her lay on the street dying and was only concerned with himself, I have no compassion for this person," he said.\nAs the victim's mother, Mary Beth Crouse, took the stand, she passed around photographs of her daughter to the judge and defendant. She also showed a picture of Crouse taken with a digital camera just hours before the accident. \n"I hate talking about her in the past tense," she said. "She was my only daughter -- the best of the best." \nPraxedis then made his own statement, apologizing to the victim's family. He mentioned that he, too, has children and asked for their forgiveness.\nCrouse's tearful mother and father clasped hands during the testimony. \n"The truth is, I didn't understand the extent of what happened. I didn't even know where I was after it happened," Praxedis said.\nBecause he is an illegal immigrant, the state will deport Praxedis to Mexico after he serves his term in prison, Kellams said. \n"Every time I have a case like this, I try to imagine myself standing in a courtroom in Mexico and not understanding the language or legal system," Kellams said. "It's not mitigating, but it does complicate the circumstances for everyone."\nPraxedis first appeared before a judge in May after an incarceration transfer from New Castle County, Del., where he fled April 12 -- one day after the fatal accident. \nU.S. Marshals arrested Praxedis in Delaware three days after the accident. Officials had struggled to identify the suspect because he did not possess a valid driver's license or form of identification, police said.\nAfter the IU Police Department obtained an eyewitness sketch of the suspect, New Castle police were able to match a photograph with the IUPD composite image. \nAccording to police reports, Crouse and two other students, Christopher Carlson and Julie Greenbaum, entered the intersection of Hawthorne Drive and Third Street the night of April 11 when a gray Honda station wagon, allegedly driven by Praxedis, struck their red Jeep. The vehicles both skidded into the lawn of the Kappa Kappa Gamma house, the sorority where Crouse had lived and was a member. \nAt the intersection, the students' Jeep approached a flashing red traffic light while the station wagon had a flashing yellow light, according to the reports. \nPraxedis allegedly fled on foot before police arrived at the scene. \nPolice reports state that Crouse, who was in the back seat of the Jeep, landed five feet from the vehicle after the impact. She was the only passenger not wearing a seat belt, according to the report. \nBloomington Hospital medics pronounced Crouse dead at 12:09 a.m. April 12.