The woman at fault for a 2014 crash that killed a retired Concord teacher was back in court for violating the terms of her probation by continuing to use drugs.
Nearly two years ago, Jordan Heath, 27, of Pembroke pleaded guilty to vehicular assault in Merrimack County Superior Court for texting at the time of the crash in Allenstown that killed Michael Phelps, who previously taught at Rundlett Middle School and Concord High. Since then, she has tested positive for opioids, marijuana and alcohol, and was caught lying to her probation officer about her substance abuse, according to court records filed by the state’s probation and parole office in Concord.
Heath spent nearly a month in jail in August 2017 on a violation of probation charge for using what she believed to be heroin that April. She was released from the Merrimack County jail in Boscawen on Aug. 24, 2017, but failed to report as directed to her probation officer six days later.
By November, she’d failed multiple drug tests after drinking alcohol found at relatives’ homes.
That alcohol use continued into February, at the same time her urine also tested positive for marijuana, Probation Officer Cecilia Stone wrote in court records filed earlier this year.
At the recommendation of attorneys, Judge John Kissinger Jr. agreed to place Heath on pretrial monitoring in July, in lieu of incarceration, so that she could work on her sobriety and attend weekly appointments with a licensed alcohol and drug abuse counselor – all while maintaining her employment. Under that agreement, Heath had to submit to random drug testing, adhere to a curfew and check in daily with the county’s pretrial program staff.
Heath’s efforts in recent months to address her longstanding substance abuse history was taken into account last week when she was back before a judge. She admitted to violating her probation and received an 11-month jail sentence, all suspended for one year on conditions of good behavior. Her two-year probation was also terminated; it was scheduled to end later this month, exactly two years after her sentencing for vehicular assault.
The county attorney’s office had initially charged Heath with negligent homicide, a charge that carries a maximum seven-year prison sentence. She stood trial in May 2016 on the charge, but jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict and a judge declared a mistrial.
As a result, prosecutors pursued a lesser charge of vehicular assault as part of a plea agreement. Heath avoided jail on that conviction but faced a five-year loss of her license and was required to work with the Phelps family on an educational video about the dangers of distracted driving.
Under the agreement, Heath admitted to blowing a red light at a busy intersection in Allenstown on the morning of June 30, 2014, because she was distracted by a Facebook message on her cell phone. Her Ford Focus broadsided Phelps, who was turning left onto Allenstown Road in a Honda VTX motorcycle. Phelps was thrown from his bike and life-threatening injuries. He later died at Concord Hospital.
Family members said Phelps, who was 66 at the time, was on his way to the Payson Center at the hospital, where he volunteered every Monday.
Phelps, a survivor of prostate cancer, was married and had three children.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319, adandrea@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @_ADandrea.)