Woman sentenced to jail for 2021 crash that killed mailman in Greene County

A Greene County woman who was speeding and driving recklessly when she drove off the road and crashed into a mailman who was delivering a package to a house, killing him more than three years ago, was sentenced to serve nearly a year in jail.
Tina Marie Phillips cried and hugged family members following her sentencing Monday afternoon at the Greene County Courthouse before sheriff’s deputies took her into custody, all while the family of Chad Varner watched in the courtroom just a few feet away.
President Judge Lou Dayich sentenced Phillips, 49, of Morris Township, to serve 10 to 23 months in the Greene County jail after finding her guilty of homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter on Oct. 28 following a two-day bench trial earlier that month.
According to evidence presented at trial, Phillips was driving recklessly and speeding at around 70 mph on Oct. 25, 2021, when her car left the road and fatally struck Varner as he delivered a package to 180 Andrews Road in Morris Township. Varner, 49, of Spraggs, was unable to fit the package in the mailbox, so he was walking it to the home’s door when he was fatally struck.
The nearly two-hour sentencing hearing was filled with emotional victim impact statements from Varner’s family and testimony by friends and relatives of Phillips speaking about her character. But Phillips, who wrote a letter to be included in the defense’s pre-sentencing report, did not say a word in court until prodded by Dayich moments before he was to impose his sentence.
“Do you want to say anything?” Dayich said.
“I’m real scared,” Phillips responded.
“I don’t doubt you feel remorseful,” Dayich continued. “Is there anything you want to say?”
“I just would like for you to know that I did not go out that day intending to harm someone,” Phillips said. “Chad was very important to us. He was a good man. … And I am sorry. Very sorry. I wish that it was different.”
Dayich watched intently as Phillips spoke, and he acknowledged the pain and anguish for family members on both sides.
“There are two families that are impacted and affected by this,” Dayich said.
But Varner’s family members said Phillips has never shown any remorse about the crash that took his life, and noted that she did not look directly at them when she spoke in court or as she was being led away by the deputies.
Varner’s mother-in-law, Leona Main, told Dayich about how his death has had a tremendous impact on their family over the last three years.
“He was the most loving, gentle and caring husband,” Main said. “He was loving and encouraging and doing whatever he could for his children … until Ms. Phillips took him away from us and changed all of our lives. He’s missed and he has missed (many life events).”
Main said Phillips never showed the family any contrition, including during Monday’s sentencing.
“He was taken from us needlessly,” Main said. “He’s dead, and he’s dead because he was killed. We want justice.”
Earl Phillips, who is the defendant’s father, said his daughter was remorseful for what happened, but as someone who worked in law enforcement, he urged her not to speak publicly about the situation.
“When it comes to remorse, she wanted to (speak to the family) from Day 1, but I told her not to,” he said. “That’s on me.”
He told Dayich about her character and how the crash and Varner’s death impacted his daughter, especially since the mailman was particularly kind to her and her mother when delivering mail to their house.
“She’s a very loving person. She wouldn’t even kill bugs,” he said. “She hurt very badly over this. Not like the (Varner) family. The fact that man isn’t here, she hurts every day.”
Deputy Attorney General Kara Rice, who prosecuted the case, said Phillips was driving recklessly before the crash and noted that there was no evidence brought up at trial that she suffered a medical emergency that caused her to lose control of her vehicle, as had originally been alleged by Greene Regional police in charging documents.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Harry Cancelmi asked Dayich to give Phillips 10 days to report to jail, which the judge denied. Deputies allowed Phillips several minutes to embrace her family and friends before they escorted her out of the courtroom.