Son of Baldwinsville crash victim urges compassion, says seizure caused collapse

Dan Michels is asking Baldwinsville to see his mother’s death through the lens of epilepsy, not through the instinct to blame a driver before the facts were clear. He said Tammy Langford-Michels likely collapsed from a seizure on Downer Street and that he does not hold the motorist who struck her responsible.

State Police said the crash happened near the Village of Baldwinsville at about 5:50 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2025, after Tammy Langford-Michels, 53, had been walking from a nearby Dunkin around 5:39 a.m. Investigators later said surveillance video and witness interviews showed she was already lying in the roadway before she was struck. The driver was identified as Cameron M. Parry, 28, of Auburn, and he told investigators he did not know a pedestrian had been hit.

The case had initially been handled as a suspected hit-and-run, adding to the shock that spread through Baldwinsville after a woman was found in the eastbound lane of Downer Street. But on May 7, 2026, State Police said they found no basis for criminal charges after consulting with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office and closed the criminal investigation.

In a statement, Michels said his mother had lived with seizures for about 30 years, sometimes multiple times a month. He said the condition shaped major parts of her life, including driving, but did not define who she was or how she treated people around her. His message was as much about restraint as it was about grief, urging people to remember that a medical emergency can change a roadway tragedy in an instant.

Tammy Michels’ obituary described a 53-year-old Baldwinsville woman whose greatest joy was family. It said she loved getting her Dunkin and walking around town. She is survived by her children, Daniel and Christina, her grandchildren Brantley, Noah, Aaliyah and Avery, and her siblings Kim, Josh, Tiffany and Leann.

The broader context underscores why the family is speaking out. The New York State Department of Health estimates about 215,000 people in New York live with active epilepsy, and the CDC says about 2.9 million U.S. adults had active epilepsy in 2021. For families like the Michelses, the impact reaches beyond one crash scene on Downer Street and into years of daily caution, independence and uncertainty.