A Vermont driver who killed actor Treat Williams in a car crash has avoided jail after pleading guilty to a reduced charge at the request of the victim’s family.
Ryan Koss was given a one year deferred sentence, had his driving license revoked for a year and must complete a community restorative justice program.
Koss, 35, killed Williams, 71, after he slammed into the victim’s motorcycle with his SUV on a highway in Dorset on June 12 last year.
‘I’m here to apologize and take responsibility for this tragic accident,’ Koss told an emotional hearing on Friday, where he also offered condolences to Williams’ family and fans.
‘I do forgive you, and I hope that you forgive yourself,’ Williams’ son Gill Williams, 32, said back as he addressed Koss in court, telling him the family did not want to press charges or see him jailed.
The Vermont driver who killed actor Treat Williams in a car crash has avoided jail after pleading guilty to a reduced charge at the request of the victim’s family
Ryan Koss, pictured in court on Friday, was given a one year deferred sentence, had his driving license revoked for a year and must complete a community restorative justice program
Williams’ son Gill Williams, (center), said the family did not want to press charges or see Koss jailed Pictured: Williams with his son and daughter Ellie Williams in 2012
But he also added that ‘I really wish you hadn’t killed my father. I really had to say that.’
Koss, who worked as managing creative director of the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont, had known Williams for years through his work and considered him a friend.
After the crash, he called Williams’ wife to tell her what happened and took responsibility for what happened, according to County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage.
Gill Williams said his father was ‘everything’ to their family and an extraordinary person who lived life to the fullest, and it’s now hard to figure out how to move forward.
‘It’s very difficult to have this happen based on someone’s negligence,’ he said, urging people to take driving a lot more seriously and to look out for motorcycles.
Statements from Williams’ wife, Pam, and his daughter, who both did not attend the court hearing, were read aloud.
Pam Williams said in her statement that it was a tragic accident and that she hopes Koss can forgive himself.
Williams was riding on Route 30 in Dorset, Vermont, when he was cut off by an oncoming SUV as it was turning left into an auto shop parking lot; seen in 2012
The 35-year-old originally pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of gross negligent operation with death resulting
Daughter Ellie Williams wrote in her statement that she was too angry and hurt at this time to forgive Koss but hopes she will in the future
‘Our lives will never be the same, our family has been torn apart and there is a huge hole that can’t possibly be filled,’ Pam Williams wrote in her statement.
Daughter Ellie Williams wrote in her statement that she was too angry and hurt at this time to forgive Koss but hopes she will in the future.
‘I will never get to feel my father’s hug again; be able to get his advice again, introduce him to my future husband, have him walk me down the aisle, introduce him to my babies, and have him cry when I name my first son after him,’ a victim’s advocate said in reading her statement.
An eyewitness told DailyMail.com that Koss collided with the motorcycle, sending Williams flying off his bike.
The TV star, who had been wearing a helmet, was then left sprawled out on the pavement a few feet from his motorcycle.
Reports released by Vermont State Police revealed that Williams didn’t stand a chance as Koss’s Honda cut across the northbound lane of the V-30 into his 1986 Honda VT700c motorcycle at around 4:53pm.
The police report states that ‘Williams was unable to avoid a collision and was thrown from his motorcycle.’ It was also confirmed Koss was not intoxicated.
‘I do forgive you, and I hope that you forgive yourself,’ Williams’ son Gill Williams told Koss but he also added that ‘I really wish you hadn’t killed my father’
Pam Van Sant, the heartbroken widow of Williams, broke her silence on his untimely death last year; the couple seen in 2016
The Golden Globe-nominated actor was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries before being pronounced dead.
Koss originally pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of gross negligent operation with death resulting. If he had been convicted of that charge, he could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Williams’ nearly 50-year career included starring roles in the TV series ‘Everwood’ and the movie ‘Hair.’
He appeared in more than 120 TV and film roles, including the movies ‘The Eagle Has Landed,’ ‘Prince of the City’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in America.’