ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage woman suspected of text messaging while being involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident was released on bail and placed under the supervision of third-party custodians.
In granting release, Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton on Monday raised bail for Ashley Nichole Bashore, 19, from $2,500 to $10,000, according to a KTUU-TV report.
Conditions of Bashore’s release require that she be under the supervision of her boyfriend and sister-in-law, and she’ll have to live in her mother’s home.
Bashore is accused of hitting Hubert Tunuchuk, 28, on one of the city’s main streets. Investigators say they have evidence that Bashore was texting before and after the man from the village of Chefornak was struck. He was hit while walking with two friends on Easter.
Anchorage police said they recovered a text Bashore sent to a friend shortly after the accident, which read, “OMG OMG OMG.” OMG is shorthand in texting for “Oh My God.”
Investigators said Bashore did not stop to help Tunuchuk and didn’t call 911. She was arrested last week after months of investigation. Her trial is scheduled for March.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended that states should ban all driver use of cellphones and other portable electronic devices, except in emergencies.
The recommendation, unanimously agreed to by the five-member board, applies to both hands-free and hand-held phones and significantly exceeds any existing state laws restricting texting and cellphone use behind the wheel.
The NTSB made the recommendation in connection with a deadly highway pileup in Missouri last year. The board said the initial collision was caused by the inattention of a 19-year-old pickup driver who sent or received 11 texts in the 11 minutes immediately before the crash.
Bashore’s attorney, Rex Butler, argued in court Monday that his client was not a flight risk and has no significant criminal history and therefore should be released.
But one of the members of Tunuchuk’s family argued against freeing Bashore.
Geoffrey Stauffer, who is married to Tunuchuk’s aunt, said given that Bashore had evaded authorities for months, she did not deserve to be released.
“She’s asking to go home with her family. We don’t get to have Hubert come home with us anymore,” Stauffer said.
Comments (27)
Add comment"Investigators said Bashore
"Investigators said Bashore did not stop to help Tunuchuk and didn’t call 911."
Wait. WHY isn't she in jail?!
Unbelievable!!
The fact that they let her get bail release?!?? Are you kidding me?? This twit shows no remorse or anything for taking that young man's life, if it was up to me she'd be sitting in a jail cell right this minute. Where is the justice in this???
Haven't you heard?
Money talks.
Actually, I'd bet that Bashore is just about the same age as the judge's granddaughter, comes from a nice family, and strikes everybody as being an easily excitable and not very mature teenager. Right now, she's probably getting cut some slack because, unless Rex is very VERY good, she's got some rough treatment coming her way once she heads to prison.
Not that she doesn't deserve it, considering that she killed a man, didn't help when she could, and wouldn't own up to it afterwards.
Don't be dumb, there are two sides.
On the one hand, she killed a guy. Of course she should be sitting in jail.
On the other hand, she's a very young (and stupid) girl who made a terrible mistake and panicked. Not saying she shouldn't be punished, but you shouldn't act like she's some cold blooded killer when really she was just scared sh*tless and acted on impulses.
People F up. Realistically, any jail time she does will be solely for the purpose of making her understand how bad texting while driving is. She's a dumb teenager, not a murderer. She ruined lives, yes, punish her. But save the real prison time for the real criminals, not idiots.
I guarentee she's already learned her lesson.
I agree that she is just some
I agree that she is just some dumb broad who made a mistake. However, she needs to be made an example of. If she is let off with no time in prison, it would be saying to every other stupid broad (or guy) out there that it's okay to run somebody down while driving and texting. Throw her in prison for a long time and let other people know about it. Maybe it will save a few lives down the road.
By the way, I didn't go into all the nasty stuff that's going to happen to her in the slammer.
Obama's way
For a decade or so the young have been indoctrinated into thinking nothing is their fault. Take a loan you can't repay, it's the "man's" fault. Kill someone while driving and texting? Not your fault, blame the auto manufacturer or the cell phone company. Obama reinforces this with every campaign speech. It's only going to get worse.
I wonder how things would
I wonder how things would have been different had HE hit HER while he was texting and then took off. Bet he would have got a much harsher sentence and higher bail and he probably wouldn't be out on bond under the "supervision" of his girlfriend. Spoiled little B**** should not get away with this.
Banditrider
Jeez, what kind of kids do you know? You must be living in some seriously ghetto place if that's how you view the young.
Or maybe you're getting "thinking they're faultless" confused with "transitioning into responsibility". They are two different things. There's a difference between killing someone because you were texting while driving and blowing off the electric bill for a month.
@shmile
Well Said!!!
Desperate?
Only the desperate will work on twisting stories like this into a political conduit of their choosing. Back to the story, bail should have been set at a million dollars so she would have remained behind bars and her rights would still be in place.
Grim...
How's that IQ thing workin for ya? LOL!
Agree @shmile...
Our youth are our bright future, and a darn fine lot they are also! Banditrider: Release that wedgie and you'll feel much better!
Judges
It shows the public the judges in Anchorage just do not give a damn. In Anchorage the criminal justis system is tokenism. Old Anchorage resident
Judges
It shows the public the judges in Anchorage just do not give a damn. In Anchorage the criminal justis system is tokenism. Old Anchorage resident
I admit
I was surprised that bail would be granted in these circumstances of hit-and-run, as it would seem that a person who allegedly fled the scene of a fatal accident they caused, would be considered a flight risk. Like AKGasman, I doubt a Juneau judge would have allowed bail.
Are you kidding?
A Juneau judge would have made certain that the DA cut a nice deal convicting them of some hardly related lessor offense, probably a misdemeanor, then placed the doer on probation after serving a "Suspended Sentence"
When JE doesn't like your
When JE doesn't like your opinion, they delete it. I guess that's their idea of "freedom of speech".
I got my post on this thread
I got my post on this thread deleted as well. Personally, I think it's kind of funny when that happens. It means I was either not nice enough or I really hit a soft spot on somebody. Either way, it's all good.
You're right J.E. fume, it's
You're right J.E. fume, it's all good.
It's all electronic
I keep saying it over and over, the computer system simply flags some posts until someone has time to look over the comment board and manually allow the posting. This is my first visit of the day. If your post is deleted due to content someone will send you a note telling you why. We do not pore over the comment boards all day, we fix things as soon as we can or if someone calls us or emails us to let us know about it. If your comment is hung up in the system just email me at john.moses@juneauempire.com. The Blackberry buzzes all day and night (but I'm not getting up at 3 a.m. to fix anything. If you've seen that photo of me on this site you know I need my beauty sleep.)
No excuse
I can tell you as a young adult myself, if you hit someone with your car - you know you F’ed up. Being ‘young and dumb’ is not an excuse. Several of my friends (most under 30) are appalled at what she did and how it is being handled in the court system. For the crimes that she is accused of, if there is undeniable proof that she is guilty, then she should be convicted. If she knows she did it, then she needs to own up to it and accept the consequences. If there is any possible way that it wasn’t her, then we need to find who is guilty and prosecute them to the highest extent of the law (very unlikely, but possible without knowing the all facts and evidence of the case). It is shameful that she was released into third party custody including her boyfriend. Come one, it’s children watching children!
Why?
Why is anyone really surprised?
People get off all the time to kill, abuse, rape, molest and steal again, and again, and again.....
The system is a mess. I bet everyone reading this can think of at least 1 if not a dozen cases/people who didn't get a harsh enough punishment and then repeated the offense or did worse later.
Not only that, I can think of
Not only that, I can think of at least a dozen people who regularly post on articles about crimes to make themselves feel like better people than they actually are!
PP
Are you referring to yourself? Wait no you post on EVERYTHING to feel better about yourself!!
Most the posters on JE are the same posters (including myself) so enlighten me which ones of us are you referring to, since you are the almighty, all knowing man! You should just hurry and post the commandments according to PP so we can all stop wasting our time with our own opinions.
Yep I got an attitude today!! Have a good weekend all :)
Well, maybe not almighty...
Well, maybe not almighty... But seriously, every article about some local crime is met with a gaggle of giddy idiots condemning the suspect(s), each trying to one up the other in the horrible punishment they'd inflict. If you read between the lines, all you're trying to do is convince yourselves and others that you're better than these people.