By Brad Segall

UPPER PROVIDENCE, Pa. (CBS) — An elderly Montgomery County woman has been spared jail time after being convicted of leaving the scene of a crash in April of last year where a pedestrian was killed.

Judge Joseph Smyth has sentenced 75-year-old Patricia Maurer to 12 months of house arrest with electronic monitoring, followed by 12 months unconfined.

Maurer was convicted in June of leaving the scene of an accident involving death.  She struck and killed 26-year-old Kristy Bender on South Township Line Road, in Upper Providence (see previous story).

After the sentencing, the victim’s mother said the tragedy has taken a toll on her family.

“It’s not something that’s a court proceeding,” said Kathleen Bender (below).  “It’s life — it’s our life.  It was my daughter’s life and it will never go away.”

(Frank and Kathleen Bender, parents of the victim, speak to reporters following Patricia Maurer’s sentencing. Credit: Brad Segall)

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Still, Bender says she didn’t want to see Maurer put in jail but did want to make sure she never got behind the wheel of a car again.

The judge also sentenced Maurer to five years’ probation and took away her driving privileges while she’s under court supervision — a total of seven years.

Maurer apologized and said she never saw the girl that day.