Driver in deadly hit-and-run sentenced to 6 years in prison
PORTLAND, Ore. – A 23-year-old woman was sentenced Monday to more than six years in prison in the hit-and-run death of a 63-year-old woman in March.
Ashley Chavez changed her manslaughter plea to guilty. She admitted to driving drunk during the crash and hiding with the help of family and friends.
Chavez will lose her driver's license for life after her prison sentence.
Nancy Schoeffler, 63, was killed at about 11:20 p.m. on March 31 after being struck near the 2800 block of West Burnside where the street climbs into the West Hills area.
"I will forever live with this weight on my shoulders and deep regret," said Chavez in a written statement read by the judge. Chavez wept in the courtroom during the hearing.
Schoeffler's family members declined to make a statement in court. They wore white roses in Nancy's memory.
"A lot of mixed emotions right now, and I'm happy to, for us to move on in our healing process," said Nancy's daughter Solara Schoeffler. "She said goodbye to her mother and she loved her. I wish I could do the same."
Investigators said that Schoeffler was crossing West Burnside Street on foot when she was struck by a vehicle that fled the area westbound on Burnside. She died at the scene.
Police said tips led them to the car’s passenger, 43-year-old Angela Dawn Kaps-Collins. She was arrested in Beaverton in May.
Monday, Kaps-Collins was sentenced to three years of probation. Prosecutors said she helped them build their case against Chavez.
Kaps-Collins’ husband, Billy Eugene Collins, Jr., turned himself in to the Corbett Fire Station in early June, police said.
According to court documents, police accused Collins Jr. of hindering their investigation and covering up evidence related to the damage to the Honda that police said Chavez was driving when she hit Schoeffler.
Collins, Jr. pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Chavez was arrested in June by U.S. Marshalls in Bellingham, Wash. Investigators said she was trying to run to Canada.
Other persons arrested in the case are 28-year-old Christopher Michael Rhea (Ashely’s boyfriend), 24-year-old Josh Chavez (her brother) and Jose Alberto Torres (her co-worker).
Rhea pleaded guilty Monday to hindering the prosecution and was sentenced to three years probation.
"I just want to apologize to everyone in the courtroom. Especially the family," Rhea said.
Josh Chavez also pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of hindering prosecution and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Torres pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence. Prosecutors said Torres was the "least involved" with the crime. He was sentenced to 2 years of probation.
The prosecution said Chavez’s five co-defendants in the case were offered plea deals because they cooperated with the investigation after hindering the prosecution.
KATU's Bob Heye contributed to this story.
All those tears.............only for herself. She should get the same punishment her victim did. Six years is rediculous.
Sorry, folks, but 6 years is what the people who helped her should have gotten. Â She should have to spend at least twice that amount of time behind bars. Â And that still would not have been enough. Â
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The people who attempted to cover this up are the ones who should never draw another breath. Â Instead it's a woman who simply went out for a walk and was killed by this thoughtless woman. Â Too many lives ruined.
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Just SIX years for murdering somone with a car while drunk ?
What a mockery of justice....
6 years-what a shame! She murdered someone,while drunk! She then left the seen,and got her family,to lie about where she was! The are just as guilty! She has shown no remorse! Human life seems to be worth nothing to our legal system! That is truly sad! Its not just that way in Oregon-its everywhere!
Wow, we were on a plane to Hawaii this spring and I had an extended conversation with the daughter of the woman killed, and she told me the entire story. Sweet person, she gave my baby a flower lei to keep her busy.  Imagine my surprise to watch this video and recognize her!
WOW thats it! You kill some one run and hide. try to cover it all up and get 6 years? Now that justice for you. im happy they cought up to her. at leats then the family has a peice of mind. What a slap in the face to say your loved ones life was worth so little. So if this would have been an off duty officer woul the same sentence be inpossed? Yeah thats what i thought. Im so sorry for thier lose.
Driving with alcohol thats the most stupid thing that one person can do, if the people could be most responsible they could call their friends or taxi, but not they prefer to drive...and then they cry.
Now that phrase says "lies not hide forever" Â
Ms. Chavez looks and sounds genuinely sorry ... that she got caught! I'm sorry that she killed a woman, tried to cover up the evidence, ran from the law, and only got 6 years.
Six years for what 10, 20, maybe 30? Not a bad trade.
It's amazing how cheap human life has become.
And a wonder they even bother any more.
Pathetic.
To say the least, your comments dont matter nor can they change the situation. A life was lost and another put on hold. It's sad to think that such a tragic situation causes the public to be so volitile when the only people this situation concerns are the two families involved. Show your love and support for the shoefler family instead of bad talking Miss. Chavez, because nothing is gonna change of it.
My condolences to the Shoefler family.
@Concerned Citizen .....true enough.
The only thing that this woman is sorry about is that she was caught. The family and her covered up the accident for two months.
This is a joke. Today in Las Vegas a man was sentenced to 20 years for hitting and killing a girl with his car. He stayed at the scene, and had a BAC of .06 . He pled guilty from the beginning.
DAs are grateful to cut deals. They'll be generous in the terms they have to give to settle out of court.. They don't want to go to trial. It means they have to go to court. They have to prepare. They have to do a lot of work, cut their breaks short, study cases, and go to court. It takes a lot of time and work. And they don't get extra pay for any of it!!! It's for the birds.
My sympathies to the Schoeffler family for the loss of Nancy Schoeffler. I somewhat can imagine the loss they must feel, as my own grandfather was killed by hit/run in Portland in 1941. As a result he never got to meet any of his 27 grandchildren (some who would have arrived too late to meet even if he had lived a long time) who all felt this loss in the form of having an empty space; a hole in their lives where there should have been a grandfather. The man who struck him was caught and went to jail, as should this woman but for her...6 years?? That seems really short for a hit/run killing.
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 @Reflect I hope she learns the value of life and can find a way to be a productive member of society for once in her pathetic existence. Maybe, eventually, she can someday be worthy of being called a human again. I can't personally think of a way for her to make up for what she's done, but she has six years to figure it out.
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@iamtroglodite I just saw it on TV. There were no tears coming out of those eyes. They were perfectly dry. Her makeup wasn't disburbed in the least. She's a little Sara Bernhardt.
@iamtroglodite ......way to keep it civil.
Just keeping it real.
@iamtroglodite .......nice cliche. But real can be civil without name calling to make you feel better.
What has the legal system come to?
6 years? Is that all? Pleading guilty or not, 6 years is way to short! Should be at least 20 minimum.
Six years is not enough. I think about 15 to 45 years ought to be enough, on top of a lifetime drivers license revocation, and a big 'L' for loser tattooed on her forehead right above her eyes. And as a bonus, all the people involved with her in this incident also get the big 'L' tattoo as well.
She's very sorry she got caught. All her friends who covered up for her are also very sorry they got caught. If they had it to do over again they'd be more careful to insure they wouldn't get caught. It makes them very sad that they have to humiliate themselves in public to make tearful pleas of sadness. They're all very sorry that they're going to have to pay for what they did. They liked it much better before they got caught while they were getting away with it. They're truly sad, so very sincerely honestly sad.
 @hankhandsome Thank you!!
If she is truely sorry and remorseful, she would have had the courage to make her own statement to the victims family and not have the judge do it for her. That's pretty despicable.
hey, at least your still alive. 6 years is better than 6 feet under
She will find sympathy in the dictionary between Shiitte and Syphilis...
She is really, really sorry. Â Yeah, sorry she got caught!
Let me see if I have this right. In Oregon, I can drive drunk, murder somone with my vehicle because I chose to drive drunk, I can deliberately conceal the crime, I can get others to help me conceal my crime, I can lie to investigators, AND I DON'T CARE BECAUSE I KNOW MY SENTENCE WILL BE RIDICULOUSLY EASY! Only in Oregon! And what an outrage!!
Yup. They get all teary right after they get caught and then again right after the sentence.
I feel sympathy for the victim, not the perp(s) -- ever.. Â
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Then she's crying her head off and slamming down in the chair in the courtroom like a spoiled brat. The bunch of them deserved a minimum of 10 years and she deserves 25 years...as many years as she stole from the victim.Â
It should have been 20 years. This is an outrage.
Just out of curiosity, I wonder what the sentence would have been if she hadn't fled.Â
6 months parole.
I believe six years would've been the bare minimum had she been drunk AND had she stopped. But had she been sober and had this been just a tragic accident due to poor visibility, darkness, etc. then I don't believe she would've received any jail time at all assuming she cooperated fully.Â
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Having said that, six years does seem very light given the fact that she ran. And it wasn't like she needed a couple of days to come to her senses and tun herself in....no, she clearly had every intention of escaping justice at all costs, even leaving the country. Yeah, 6 years is weak.
I feel no pity for this disgusting creature. Six years doesn't seem like much of a sentence, considering what she did, and all the people she involved. The other lady involved deserved to spend time in jail, too, she lucked out getting just probation.
If she had done the right thing and stopped and called for help when she hit a pedestrian, then I feel that 6 years would be an appropriate sentence. But the fact that she covered up what happened proves that she has no morals and who's to say it won't happen again. I think she, and everyone who helped her try to cover up her actions, deserve a stiffer sentence.
Have a nice stay at hotel hell!
I wonder whose family member will be her NEXT VICTIM in six years when she's released.....
Bye bye, see you in 6 years.
So...... the woman who super glued her daughter's hands to the wall,,and physically abused her by hitting her in the abdomen,gets sentenced to life in prison.. and the child did not die..But yet this woman who hit and ran and killed another human being only gets 6 years in prison... Tell me... what in hell is wrong with the judicial system in America?
@Whitehawk I think that asking, "What isn't wrong with it?" would be much easier to answer. This is why people are left wondering how so many people have such a total disregard for authority and the justice system.
People who smoke marijuana RESPONSIBLY are given longer sentences & destroyed for life with life-limiting criminal records....
 @August100 No such thing as smoking marijuana "responsibly"
 @August100Â
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Oh Please, show me one person in Oregon that spent six years for just smoking marijuana responsibly. Possession of marijuana with no intent to distribute isn't even a Felony. Possession of less than an ounce isn't even a misdemeanor, just a fine.
Homeless Veterans get longer sentences for the MAKE-BELIEVE CRIME of sleeping outside than these COLD BLOODED MURDERERS & THEIR COVER-UPS!