After adjustments, judge accepts Legal resolution to UTV accident that left 7-year-old dead

After an initial rejection of a plea agreement compromise satisfactory to all concerned parties present for a December 30th pre-trial suppression motion hearing, including the victims’ father, Jonathan Clatterbuck representing both parents, Judge Clark A. Ritchie accepted a re-worked agreement that would see all-terrain utility vehicle (UTV) operator Jerrell Stanton Leadman Jr. accept 3 months of incarceration with 4-years-and-9-months of a 5-year sentence suspended in the wake of a guilty plea to a Felony Involuntary Manslaughter charge. Leadman, 62, originally faced lesser Felony Reckless Child Endangerment and Abuse charges in the death of seven-year-old Olivia Grace Clatterbuck on August 10, 2021. Her four-year-old brother Roman suffered non-fatal injuries in the UTV accident, which occurred when Leadman lost control of the UTV on wet ground, which rolled over, striking Olivia’s head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jerrell S. Leadman Jr., 62, will serve 3 months in jail in wake of a guilty plea to renegotiate the plea agreement, with 4-years-and-9-months of suspended time hanging over his head.  Leadman pleads guilty to Felony Involuntary Manslaughter in the UTV accident death of 7-year-old Olivia Grace Clatterbuck. Below, the loss of 7-year-old Olivia in an August 2021 ATV accident in Warren County has rocked the lives of her family and others who knew her. Leadman Photo RSW Jail website; Olivia Photo Courtesy

As noted in a recent Royal Examiner story by Norma Jean Shaw, neither child was wearing a helmet or other safety gear at the time of the accident; and other potential evidence indicated Leadman admitted to state police investigators at the scene to having consumed some alcohol over the course of the day prior to the accident. However, a sobriety test was not administered until about 12 hours after the accident. That test showed Leadman slightly (.05%) below the legal blood/alcohol limit of .08%.

An earlier plea agreement offered by the Commonwealth under the stewardship of former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nick Manthos was rejected by Judge Daryl Funk. In a victim impact statement to the court at that time, Olivia’s father, Jonathan Clatterbuck, argued against that plea deal being accepted after not being consulted by the prosecution on its content, which included no time served on the lesser charges of reckless child endangerment and abuse. During Friday’s hearing, Ilona White handled the case for the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office. In presenting the agreement to the court, she told the judge that Olivia’s father was present representing both his and Olivia’s mother’s interest.

Olivia’s parents, Jonathan Clatterbuck and Amber Cooke, are separated, and Olivia was in her mother’s custody at the time of the fatal accident. According to Olivia’s dad, Leadman is Amber Cooke’s ex-step-father rather than the children’s grandfather, as had been reported. A still-grieving Cooke was not present for Friday’s hearing, apparently unable to face the legal discussion surrounding the circumstance of her daughter’s death. The family being able to “move on” from legal aspects of Olivia’s death was cited as one supporting factor for the revisited plea offer.

Again called to offer a victim impact perspective, Jonathan Clatterbuck first read a statement from Olivia’s mother. That statement noted the “severe consequences” from “mistakes that were made” leading up to the accident. Before giving his own perspective, Clatterbuck observed, “She’s more polite than me.” Clatterbuck was sometimes scathing in his assessment of Leadman’s role in his children’s lives when they were with their mother, berating him for saying he played a “grandfather’s” role in their lives. It was noted during the hearing that Olivia’s brother Roman, 4 at the time of the accident, is receiving counseling for the emotional consequences of experiencing and witnessing his big sister’s death.

“Don’t say you loved those kids, that’s obviously not the case,” a father still struggling with the premature loss of his 7-year-old child told Leadman from the witness box. However, asked by the judge following his victim impact testimony if he was “okay with” the offered agreement, Clatterbuck responded, “Yes, sir,” adding he did not believe jail time was necessary in the wake of what all involved or impacted agree was a “tragic accident.” Clatterbuck told the court that “jailhouse justice” could potentially result in a death sentence for Clatterbuck were he to be incarcerated, and word got out that he had been responsible for the death of a child without details of the accidental circumstance of that death, perhaps coming to light behind bars.

But in rejecting the initially offered agreement, Judge Ritchie in from Rockingham County, in the wake of Judge Funk’s initial plea agreement rejection disqualifying him from the case, said he believed: “The community deserves the right to decide if this was a crime or not” and whether guideline terms of incarceration from none with lengthy probation to six months in jail, should be applied.

Judge Ritchie’s initial rejection of the agreement led to a flurry of negotiations between prosecutor White and defense counsel Beau Bassler and between Bassler and his client before the amended plea agreement was presented to the judge in his chambers. Originally, the entire 5-year sentence would have been suspended.

During the recess, when these negotiations between the prosecution and defense counsels were taking place, we asked Jonathan Clatterbuck if he was, in fact, satisfied with a no-incarceration outcome for the man who accidentally killed his child.

“Yes, that’s all we ever wanted – for him to take responsibility – and he is there in that agreement that’s up there,” Olivia’s dad replied of Leadman’s guilty plea to the higher Felony Involuntary Manslaughter charge and its threat of 5 years of incarceration hanging over the defendant’s head should be make another bad judgment call that might endanger others.

When the judge returned to the bench with the newly amended plea agreement containing the three months of incarceration, with 4-years-and-9-months of suspended time, and two years of supervised probation followed by another two years of unsupervised probation, he observed: “These are tragic facts and circumstances … and I will note the defendant shows accountability,” before adding that he would accept the amended agreement.

Near the end of a long list of circumstances and the defendant’s understanding of those circumstances and potential consequences of his guilty plea to Involuntary Manslaughter with the balance of a 5-year sentence hanging over his head upon his release after 3 months in jail, Judge Ritchie asked Leadman if he was pleading guilty because he was, in fact, guilty.

“Yes sir,” Leadman replied solemnly. Asked if he had anything to add prior to the judge’s ruling on acceptance of his plea, Leadman said, “I’m so sorry we’re here in court … no one knows how bad I feel – I deal with this every day … I understand how Mr. Clatterbuck feels …” after which Judge Ritchie accepted Leadman’s guilty plea and the above-stated terms. In addition to the 3 months incarceration at RSW Jail and the balance of the suspended sentence looming should he violate any terms of his four years of probation and other limits on his lifestyle, including no gun possession or alcohol consumption, Leadman was also prohibited from further contact with Roman Clatterbuck as Olivia’s younger brother struggles to cope with what he experienced on August 10, 2021, in witnessing the violent, if accidental, death of his big sister.

At the request of the defense, the judge allowed Leadman to report for his incarceration on January 24, when a jury trial on the case was scheduled to begin. His attorney Beau Bassler also assisted his client following the adjournment of the 2 p.m. hearing at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon in reporting to the parole office to set up those circumstances beginning immediately as his 3-month incarceration looms less than a month away.