By Jeremy Carroll
C & G Staff Writer

PONTIAC — Moments before a Royal Oak woman was sentenced to a minimum of 21 months in prison for the hit-and-run death of a Detroiter who was riding her bicycle along Woodward, the victim’s father forgave the woman, hugging her in court.

Kimberly Cooley Dancy, 44, was sentenced to three months longer than originally expected, after she pleaded no contest to the accident — and subsequent cover-up — that killed Jacqueline Marie Robinson, 40.

“You have to forgive and move on with life,” said Allen Parent, Robinson’s father, after the hearing on March 2 in Oakland County Circuit Court had concluded. “I think forgiveness is a lot better than being mad.”

As they embraced in court, Parent told Dancy he would come visit her in prison.

During the hearing, Dancy said she was extremely sorry, before being overcome with emotion. She told her family goodbye and that she loved them, as Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies led her away in handcuffs.

This was in stark contrast to what police and prosecutors say Dancy’s actions were in the early morning hours of Sept. 19. Police said Robinson was riding northbound on Woodward Avenue in the curbside lane, south of 12 Mile Road, when a car struck her from behind at Linwood at 1:30 a.m. Police said Robinson was dragged for more than 100 feet. After the vehicle that hit her took off, another driver found Robinson lying unconscious in the street; she was pronounced dead upon arrival at nearby Beaumont Hospital.

The next morning, police said, Dancy took her 2008 Jeep Liberty to the parking lot of a drug store at the corner of 13 Mile Road and Woodward and smashed it into a parked car as an attempt to explain the hit-and-run damage.

Parts from the crash that killed Robinson led police Dancy, who initially denied her role in the accident, going as far as suing Royal Oak for illegal seizure of the vehicle. That suit was later dropped, and she pleaded no contest to the felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident and a misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction of property.

A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated like one during sentencing.

Judge Lisa Gorcyca, who sentenced Dancy, said she had received a lot of letters in support of Dancy that expressed her compassion for others.

“Those letters are exactly opposite of what happened in this case,” she said. “You ran Ms. Robinson over like she was a wild dog.”

Initially, in exchange for the no contest plea, Dancy was to be sentenced to 18 months. Gorcyca said she was going to change the sentence and allowed Dancy to withdraw her plea and move forward with a trial, but Dancy declined.

Prosecuting Attorney Ken Frazee pushed for a tough sentence.

“Perhaps Ms. Dancy has come a long way since she committed this crime, but now she must pay,” he said.

Dancy’s attorney, Neil Rockind, said a pre-hearing meeting between Dancy and Robinson’s parents, Judith and Allen Parent, was one of the most “blessed” moments he’s experienced since becoming an attorney.

“I wish I could put into words what that was like,” he said.

Despite the emotions displayed inside and outside the courtroom, Judith Parent has filed a civil lawsuit against Dancy. The case, filed in Oakland County Circuit Court, is in the very early stages. Judith Parent and Allen Parent are no longer married.

The sentence has a maximum of five years, and Frazee said Dancy would serve every day of the 21 months. In addition to the prison time, Dancy was ordered to pay more than $13,000 in restitution, with the first $5,000 to go to the victim’s family for funeral costs. The remaining money goes to her auto insurance for the repaired damage to the vehicle.

A memorial, known as a ghost bike, was erected for Robinson soon after the incident. The bike was painted all white and placed at the corner of Linwood and Woodward. Since Dancy was first arrested, the bike has been removed.

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1110.