Angola man sent to prison for crash that killed Hamburg woman who was 'friend to all' (2024)

Before she addressed the court on Friday morning, Marcia Zuhlke Held walked to the front of the courtroom and placed a photo of her daughter on the table in front of the judge.

The picture of Jenny E. Zuhlke and her dog, Max, faced the crowd that included nearly two dozen family members and friends. The grieving mother placed the image of her youngest child about 15 feet from where defendant Anthony Rydzewski stood with his attorney.

“This is who you killed,” Zuhlke Held told Rydzewski.

Zuhlke was killed six months ago, six days after her 37th birthday, while driving to her job at a day care.

Rydzewski, 41, of Angola, who had been driving as fast as 98 mph on Route 5 prior to the collision, learned his fate from a judge Friday: He will spend the next three to nine years in state prison.

The collision happened at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 28 on Route 5 at Lakeview Road in Hamburg. Rydzewski was northbound on Route 5 and attempted to enter the intersection before the light changed, prosecutors have said.

Zuhlke, of Hamburg, was turning left onto Lakeview. She died at the scene.

Experts have told her that her daughter likely died instantly, Zuhlke Held said in court.

Rydzewski pleaded guilty July 22 to second-degree manslaughter. Had he been convicted at trial, he could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

“I will miss my daughter, Jenny, every minute for the rest of my life,” Zuhlke Held said. She described her daughter as “the true baby of the family and little sister and friend to all that knew her.”

“She deserved to die an old woman in her own bed surrounded by her loved ones,” she said. “Instead, she died alone, violently, at the hands of a psycho.”

Zuhlke Held, in her statement to the court, revealed details from the case she said she learned from police reports she obtained:

“I hate that our lives are now forever linked,” Zuhlke Held said. “I hate that I’ll always look for your name and be aware when you’re up for parole ... I hate that you’ll always be on my radar.”

State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller, who said even a 15-year prison sentence “doesn’t seem enough,” said Rydzewski’s presentence report by Erie County Probation includes six pages of prior crimes.

Boller said that while he’s handled some similar cases in the past, this one was one of the most grievous he’s handled in 18 years on the bench.

“Why is it, generally speaking, the person at fault walks away and the innocent person just going to work, driving, minding their own business gets killed?” the judge said. “It doesn’t seem fair, does it?”

Rydzewski was injured in the crash and was taken to Erie County Medical Center. Hamburg police previously said Rydzewski initially indicated to them he would cooperate in the investigation but he subsequently left the state.

He was arrested in Crawford County, Pa., after a reported assault in a treatment facility he had checked into, Zuhlke Held said. That’s where he was taken into custody by a U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force before being brought back to Western New York.

Rydzewski was arraigned in Hamburg Town Court in April and has remained in custody of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office since then. At his arraignment in Town Court, he was also charged – in addition to manslaughter – with misdemeanors of reckless driving and aggravated unlicensed operation, as well as four vehicle and traffic violations.

Before he was sentenced, Rydzewski briefly addressed the court, saying he has taken “full responsibility” and is “truly sorry.”

“There are no words that could change what has happened,” he said. “I’d like to express my deepest remorse for my actions to everyone involved.”

Boller said he agreed to the shorter prison term because “it gives some closure” to the family and the plea agreement also includes a waiver of appeal.

Rydzewski went to prison in 2005 with a sentence of up to three years after being convicted of attempted burglary, according to Department of Correction and Community Supervision records. He went back to prison in 2009 and was paroled in 2010, according to those records.

Zuhlke Held said in court she wasn’t sure why she doesn’t hate Rydzewski. If she was filled with anger, she said, it would only make the situation more difficult.

“I’m only filled with heartache.”