Woman Draws 2-Year Term in Hit-and-Run Slaying of Youth

A 30-year-old woman was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for the 1994 hit-and-run killing of a Seal Beach child waiting to cross the street.

Cynthia Kaye Lietz, a former Seal Beach resident, originally faced various felony charges, including vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of methamphetamine, in the death of 12-year-old Christopher Schneider, Seal Beach Police Det. Bob Mullins said.

She pleaded guilty Tuesday to vehicular manslaughter, and the other charges were dropped. She was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald.

On July 26, 1994, Schneider was struck and killed at the intersection of Seal Beach Boulevard and Anchor Way where he was waiting to cross the street with his bike. Lietz was heading north on Seal Beach and apparently failed to stop in time for a red light and sideswiped another car, police said. The driver of the second car lost control and hit the boy.

Lietz, who was seven months’ pregnant and was driving with her 7-year-old daughter, tried to flee from the scene but was quickly caught, Mullins said.

After the accident, Lietz was found to have traces of methamphetamine in her blood and was driving with a suspended license and a car with inoperative brakes, he said.

The accident near McGaugh Elementary School outraged residents and spawned various community efforts. The Christopher Committee was formed and successfully lobbied city officials to reduce the speed limit where Schneider had stood.

It also lobbied state legislators to help pass what is now considered the nation’s toughest law against unlicensed drivers. The law allows the courts to seize the vehicles of unlicensed drivers caught behind the wheel.