Guilty plea in fatal hit-and-run

In an emotional hearing where he faced the family of the man he’d killed, Christopher James Lynch pleaded guilty Tuesday to vehicular homicide in the death of Robb Long, a 29-year-old Costco pharmacy technician killed June 9, 2006, as he rode home on his mo-ped.

Long died of massive internal head and chest injuries when Lynch smashed into him after running a red light on East Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley and drove off. A stainless steel cross and a photo of Long still stand at a roadside shrine erected by his family near the Interstate 90 overpass on Sprague.

A sobbing Lynch faced Long’s family for the first time, saying he never imagined he could have caused such harm.

“I panicked. I kept waiting for this to go away. I’m really sorry for what I’ve done,” he said.

A plea agreement was presented to Superior Court Judge Maryann C. Moreno by Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Clint Francis and Lynch’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich.

Moreno sentenced the 24-year-old, who had no previous criminal convictions, to 34 months in prison on a felony vehicular homicide charge. She also imposed a 12-month sentence for his failure to remain at the scene of the accident, a gross misdemeanor. Both sentences were the maximum allowable under state sentencing guidelines.

Following his prison sentence, Lynch will serve 36 months in community custody and lose his driver’s license.

Moreno ordered sheriff’s deputies to take Lynch into custody immediately, despite a request from Oreskovich that he be allowed to spend one last night at home with his wife, Karen, and baby daughter. Lynch was given a few minutes to say goodbye to his family.

Before the sentencing, Moreno invited Long’s family and friends to speak in the packed courtroom.

Elsie Long, Robb Long’s grandmother, faced Lynch. She told him he’d robbed her of her only grandson and hastened the death of her husband, Bob Long, who died last February. She told Lynch she had one question: “Chris, why didn’t you just stop?”

“If you’d have come forward, we would have taken you in our arms and said, ‘You made a bad judgment,’ ” Long said.

Barb Keeler, Robb Long’s mother, traveled from Arizona for the hearing. She choked on her tears and said she’d lost her only child. “This death is so senseless. … Robb was simply going home after work,” she said.

Chris Willard, the Costco pharmacy manager who worked with Long, described him as a “rising star” at the wholesale company.

“My prayer is that the sentence would allow for this young man (Lynch) to see forgiveness and proceed with his own life in an honorable fashion,” Willard said.

Oreskovich said Lynch was an above-average student at West Valley High School who graduated in 2002 and attended Washington State University for 2 1/2 years.

A year before the 2006 accident, Oreskovich said, Lynch was struck in the head and suffered brain injuries. “He was a changed person afterwards. … The decision-making part of him doesn’t work well,” Oreskovich said, citing neurologists who examined his client.

Lynch had also experienced tragedy when his girlfriend delivered twins who lived for only a half-hour, Oreskovich said.

After fleeing from the accident scene, Lynch “felt pressure not to bring more pain into the life of his family. When people make the wrong decision, it starts to cascade,” he said.

Long’s death outraged his family and the community. Secret Witness offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the driver.

At first, the trail was cold. Sheriff’s deputies investigating the incident identified 500 Spokane County cars that matched the descriptions of the silver Dodge Intrepid that hit Long.

In late November, an anonymous tipster told deputies about the silver Intrepid owned by Lynch that had been seen outside an apartment complex at 6103 E. Eighth Ave. Detectives arrested Lynch in December 2006. According to court records, he told deputies he’d consumed about a gallon of beer at Mike’s Tavern in the hour before the hit-and-run.