A sentencing hearing now awaits a defendant in a crash that resulted in the death of a visitor to Anna Maria Island last year.
Sarasota-based attorney Ronald Filipkowski filed a “no contest” plea April 11 on behalf of his client, Holmes Beach resident Cierra Shannon, 27, who was facing a first-degree felony charge for leaving the scene of a Feb. 10, 2021, deadly hit-and-run crash.
The crash resulted in the death of 83-year-old Madelyn Dakin, a Michigan resident vacationing in Holmes Beach with her husband. Dakin was hit while crossing Gulf Drive around the 2700 block when she was struck by a vehicle.
Shannon turned herself in Feb. 11, 2021, after she had been identified as the driver of the vehicle.
Shannon had pleaded not guilty but changed her plea the morning before her trial was to begin in Bradenton.
With the no contest plea, the court will schedule a sentencing hearing, according to Donna Rhodes, public information officer for the 12th Judicial Circuit Court.
If convicted, a first-degree felony charge carries a minimum mandatory prison sentence of four years.
Shannon had been found guilty of driving under the influence in an unrelated 2015 case, according to Manatee County court records.
— Ryan Paice