New York judge killed in hit-and-run accident in Florida

article

police lights (FOX 9)

NEW YORK (AP) - A woman is facing criminal charges after a hit-and-run crash killed a New York-based federal judge.

The crash occurred Friday morning in Boca Raton, Florida. According to multiple reports, U.S. District Judge Sandra Feuerstein was walking on a sidewalk when a car driven by Nastasia Andranie Snape struck her. The car continued, striking and injuring a 6-year-old boy crossing the street.

The 23-year-old Snape was charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash involving death.

Feuerstein had served as a federal judge in New York’s Eastern District since 2003. She was based at the federal courthouse in Central Islip on Long Island.

In a statement, Eugene Corcoran, executive of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, said Feuerstein "was a treasured member of our Eastern District Bench. Her eccentric style and warm personality lit up the courtroom. She will be missed by her colleagues and litigants alike."

Feuerstein was born in New York in 1946 and worked as a schoolteacher before earning a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1979, according to her biography on the Eastern District's website.

"She viewed a judge’s role as interpreting and not creating law," Joshua Glick, who clerked for Feuerstein in 2007 and 2007, told Newsday. "She was focused on writing clear and concise opinions that were easily understood. She was occasionally tough on litigants who she felt were not being fully candid with her, but she was always fair."