Family Angry Over No Justice Yet for Carlsbad Teacher Death

The husband of a North County teacher is angry that no arrest has been made more than a month after his wife's death.

Nicole Lynch was killed in front of her 21-year-old daughter Kendall while jogging in Carlsbad, Sunday, Dec. 28.

In an exclusive interview with NBC 7, Lynch's husband Pat said he and his children are having great emotional difficulties struggling with her death, all while to them, the wheels of justice seemed to have ground to a hault.

The driver of the SUV, Joseph Knight, swerved his car into Lynch and her daugther as they jogged along Carlsbad Boulevard, just north of Tamarack Avenue.

“She died at the scene. It was that horrific,” Pat Lynch said.

The police report indicates 52-year-old Knight told investigators he was distracted by his three-year-old daughter who was in the back seat. But to the victim's husband, this doesn't explain why it took Knight nearly 100 feet to stop.

“You look right and swerve right for five feet, this was a couple of hundred feet with somebody impaled on your car,” Pat said.

Knight did not answer his phone when NBC 7 called for his recollection of the accident.

At the time of the collision, Knight had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court and was driving on a suspended license. Yet he was not arrested.

"The Sheriff's Department doesn't allow us to book certain misdemeanor warrants. That's one of those non-bookable warrants," Carlsbad Police Lt. Mickey Williams told NBC7 over the phone."It was a horrible day for everybody. We have to ask ourselves, 'do we want to take the child out of his father's care and put him in jail that day?' We decided not to."

Pat Lynch still wants answers.

“He's free to keep driving around on a suspended license with no insurance killing other people and nobody here cares,” Lynch said. He added that for the first time, he's feeling helpless without his wife, Nicole.

“Amazing. Married 24 and a half years to my best friend,” Lynch said. "That is why I don't know what to do."

The District attorney told NBC 7 it's waiting for Carlsbad police to complete their investigation.

Police said they are waiting to complete a thorough inspection of the suspect's vehicle, including seeing if there was anything mechanically wrong with the SUV that might have contributed to the accident.

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