Benjamin Clague, 24, of Gilbert Iowa, faced trial in Story County Courthouse on Friday, facing charges including hit-and-run that resulting in death and failure to obey a traffic signal late last year. It was on the 14th of December 2015 that Iowa State student Emmalee Jacobs was struck in a fatal hit-and-run, and only this week was the case closed via a plea bargain, more than seven months later. And whilst prosecutors have finally come to a decision, there is much discussion about the verdict.

Emmalee was found just after 7:00 in the morning by a police officer, before being transported to Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, where she later died. She never made it to her final exam that fateful morning, and as a result began a month long investigation into the accident, employing help from everyone- police, the Iowa State community, businesses, and members of the general public. The lack of information was incredibly difficult on her family and friends, with her mother stating in court on Friday that “We celebrated Christmas and cleaned out her dorm room without knowing what happened to her.” As pointed out by many, this investigation could have come to an end far quicker and far less messy had Clague admitted fault.

However, this is not what happened. Instead, the investigation began that morning of December 14, and continued tirelessly up until the day of an arrest, on January 20 of 2016. According to court documents, the arrest occurred due to incriminating audio and video footage of the Iowa State “CyRide” campus bus driven by Clague that had struck Jacobs that morning. The Ames Tribune has since reported that the Story County court also shows records of text messages between Clague and friends, in which he discusses concern that he may have been at fault.

Clague was arrested and charged by police with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, considered a felony in Iowa, and a simple misdemeanor of failure to obey a traffic control device. He was to face court, and he plead not guilty. That is, up until the day before his trial, when he switched his plea to guilty, and as a result, took a plea bargain.

As a part of this bargain, all other charges against Clague were dropped, meaning he is only now charged with a simple misdemeanor of failure to report an incident.

You can imagine it was quite a shock for family, friends, and the community when Clague got sentenced to only 30 days in jail and a $100 fine thanks to this plea bargain. This was a surprise, not only because of the incriminating evidence including footage and messages they had collected, but also as Ames Police Investigations Commander Jason Tuttle announced that he was “very confident” in the arrest of Clague being the individual who struck Jacobs.

His charge of nothing more than a simple misdemeanor is very different from his original charges, in which he could have faced up to 5 years in prison for a hit-and-run that resulted in death. However, Story County prosecutor [Reynolds] stated that the plea arrangement became necessary as the jury made it clear under the ruling of Judge Malloy that in order to win a conviction, prosecutors would have to prove (beyond reasonable doubt) that Clague knew he had hit Jacobs, as explained by the Des Moines Register.

Despite the other incriminating evidence, all interviews and discussions with Clague had clearly shown he did not know that he had hit Jacobs until more than fifteen minutes later, when he continued his route and noticed emergency vehicles and was diverted. And while prosecutors tried to delay his trial again in the hope of appealing this instruction placed on the jury by the judge, they were denied, leaving their only option to be the charge of failure to report an accident in order to gain any conviction at all.

According to Reynolds, this was “the maximum on the only charge that we had left… a pretty devastating ruling for our case,” as prosecutors declined to pursue a trial on more serious charges. Reynolds also states that this was the result of “not well written” statutes that specify that in order to be charged, Clague would need to know that he hit Emmalee right away when the incident occurred.

It’s here that it becomes very difficult. The poorly written statute regarding hit-and-runs has not only undermined Emmalee’s death to a small amount of time and money, but it has led to clear injustice. While it is easy to prove that Clague did not know at the time of the accident that he may have hit Jacobs, he has still led to her death, and left family, friends, and a whole community grieving while unable to hold himself accountable.

And although it may have been an unintentional accident, there were many choices that Clague made that day that were actually intentional. He hid his involvement, and made the intentional choice not to come forward and be responsible for his actions. He made the intentional choice to make himself a villain and create both bitterness and hatred toward him in the community, and most importantly, he made the intentional choice to carry with him the guilt of taking an innocent life, rather than coming forward and grieving with us.

The Jacobs’ family have even weighed in on his lack of ability to come forward at the sentencing hearing on Friday, according to the Des Moines Register, Clague was called names such as callous, heartless, and coward. Emmalee’s sister, Carly, was even understanding of the situation that had unfolded, but continued to scorn inability to admit involvement, saying that “Accidents happen… I’ve tried to put myself in your place. I understand how you were scared. What I don’t understand is how you could not hold yourself accountable.”

Are we really allowing Clague to be let off with such a small punishment, when he took an innocent life and could not take responsibility for his actions? Are we really allowing Clague to be free simply because he did not know at the time of the accident that he had hit a human? Are we really forgetting that he failed to cooperate and assist in the investigation, causing prolonged pain and suffering? He killed Emmalee Jacobs, and while this may have been an accident, the damage he has caused both on the day of the accident and during the months afterward are irreparable, and it is not fair justice for him to escape with a simple misdemeanor.

Clague’s plea deal is nothing beyond disappointing, and a real slap in the face for the family, friends, and community in which she was involved. Prosecutor Reynolds claims, as she should, that the crime than Clague committed "is still the same crime, regardless of when the person may know about it," and says she is working toward a legislative fix to these poorly written laws. Who is going to take responsibility for her death, if even Clague can't?

If you’re interested in reading more about Emmalee, her contribution to Iowa State, and the scholarship being set up in her honor, please read about it here.