Privileged Columbia protester who ‘killed’ elderly couple in crash should be in jail, not on campus, furious family says
An ultra-privileged protester who was busted at a Columbia University anti-Israel encampment on Thursday should be in jail — not at an elite college — says the niece of the elderly Vermont couple who were killed in a crash she allegedly caused.
As a teenager, Isabel Jennifer Seward, 20, crossed the double line and collided head-on with Chet and Connie Hawkins on Sept. 8, 2020, according to police reports.
“The only reason she wasn’t charged with murder is because she has a rich daddy,” Eve Taylor, 49, claimed.
“She should be behind bars.”
Seward, the daughter of high-ranking UPS executive William J. Seward, was 16 at the time and comes from a well-heeled family.
When she was detained by the NYPD at Columbia on Thursday, she listed her home address as a $2.2 million mansion in a tony section of northeast Atlanta.
Following the 2020 crash, Seward pleaded no contest to a civil traffic ticket and was issued a $220 fine — which her mother paid, according to the Rutland Herald.
Seward was not charged with any crime related to the crash, and a Vermont State Police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case.
The Post’s calls for comment to Isabel Seward and her family were not returned.
Taylor said her aunt and uncle were high school sweethearts, who lived for years in Charlotte, Vt.
Police told local media at the time of the crash that Seward gave conflicting answers about what happened leading up to the head-on crash, including whether she had been texting.
However, police reports and crash scene photos indicate that her pickup truck crossed the double line on US Route 7 in Charlotte, Vermont and hit Chet and Connie head-on.
“Her truck went up over the hood of their car, and crushed my aunt and uncle,” Taylor said.
Connie, 72, died instantly, according to local media reports. A severely injured Chet, 73, suffered “for several hours,” Taylor said, as first responders struggled to free him from the mangled wreck.
He died five hours later at a nearby hospital.
Seward’s case became a point of contention between Vermont State Police and the Chittenden County prosecutor’s office, which was reportedly upset that the department had released her name in a press release.
According to the Rutland Herald, state police were told by Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George not to include the then-teenager’s name, but the department made her name public after a legal review, citing a wide range of both department and state transparency and public records laws.
The Post’s revelation that Seward is back in the news has made Chat and Connie’s family furious all over again, Taylor said.
“Chet and Connie’s family are all incensed,” she said.
Taylor said she called the Vermont State Police Saturday morning to see if they would re-open the investigation into the fatal crash.
“I want her charged with murder,” she said.
“She has no remorse, she received no punishment. She’s just prancing around Columbia with her Ivy League privilege. After basically getting away with murder, she’s now promoting murder, with no understanding of what she’s promoting.”
Added Taylor: “It’s outrageous they haven’t thrown her off campus.”
