A 20-year-old University District woman who showed up late for her vehicular-manslaughter sentencing yesterday narrowly avoided a longer prison sentence, a Franklin County Common Pleas judge said. Judge Mark A. Serrott said he was tempted to add more time to the four-year, nine-month sentence for Jasmine J. Herring, saying her tardiness was the latest incident that suggested she had a bad attitude and wasn't remorseful for causing the death of a bicyclist on the North Side last summer.

A 20-year-old University District woman who showed up late for her vehicular-manslaughter sentencing yesterday narrowly avoided a longer prison sentence, a Franklin County Common Pleas judge said.

Judge Mark A. Serrott said he was tempted to add more time to the four-year, nine-month sentence for Jasmine J. Herring, saying her tardiness was the latest incident that suggested she had a bad attitude and wasn�t remorseful for causing the death of a bicyclist on the North Side last summer.

In April, Herring admitted that she had used drugs before coming to court to plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence in the July 3 death of 21-year-old Elijah Smith.

Smith, 21, was riding his bicycle home from his job at a manufacturing plant about 4 a.m. when he was struck near Woodland and Woodward avenues on the North Side.

Police said Herring was driving a Volkswagen Passat when the car struck Smith from behind. She left without summoning help and tried to hide the damaged car.

Smith landed in the middle of the intersection and was found a short time later by a passer-by who called 911.

In a tearful statement in court, Herring said she thinks of Smith constantly.

�I have dreams about this boy,� she said.

She said she was late to court yesterday because she couldn�t find a ride to the courthouse. A drug test, administered once she arrived, was negative.

Pressed by Serrott, Herring, of Clinton Street, said she hadn�t been drinking before the fatal collision but admitted to smoking marijuana that night.

Her attorney, Patrick Heagerty, said Herring panicked after striking Smith.

�I know age is no excuse,� he said, but �with age comes some wisdom. At the age of 18, I can�t say what I would have done.�

Serrott said he was tempted to sentence Herring to six years in prison, despite an agreement struck by Heagerty and Assistant Prosecutor Keith McGrath that was approved by Smith�s family.

�You�re lucky you have a family over here who is willing to show some mercy,� the judge said.

Pamela L. Smith said she still wonders whether her son might have lived if Herring had called for help immediately. She said she feels as though her life has stopped since the death of her youngest child.

�I�m still at the hospital that morning, when they were telling me that he�s not going to live,� she said.

Now, she said, she is �just waiting for this life to be over, so we can see each other again."

tdecker@dispatch.com