The woman who killed 81-year-old Fred Lick on July 2, 2013, was convicted Tuesday morning.
Kristin K. Carlson, 45, Fond du Lac, entered a plea of no contest to homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle.
Judge Raymond Huber ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and schedule her sentencing for Tuesday, Sept. 26. She faces up to 10 years in prison.
On an afternoon nearly four years ago, Carlson’s vehicle struck Lick on County Trunk Q near its intersection with County QQ in Dayton.
Lick was walking home after going to his mailbox.
According to the criminal complaint, Carlson sent a 134-character text message at 4:02 p.m. and received a text message at 4:05 p.m. Carlson called 911 about 23 seconds after receiving the text message.
A crash reconstruction specialist with the Wisconsin State Patrol determined that Lick’s body was propelled nearly 210 feet from where he was struck.
Carlson’s vehicle started braking about 85 feet after the point of impact and travelled 180 feet before coming to a complete stop, the complaint says.
The vehicle was travelling an estimated 59-65 mph at the time it hit Lick. The speed limit there is 35 mph.
She reportedly had a 0.05 blood-alcohol level. The legal limit is 0.08.