Jury Finds Former Logan County Volunteer Firefighter Not Guilty, Defense Attorney Comments On Verdict

We heard from a defense lawyer who convinced a Guthrie jury his client did not break the law when he left the scene where a woman died. 

We First reported the tragic story back in October of 2019. Police said Zachary Simmons hit 33-year-old Mandy Gorsuch with his truck outside of a bar in Guthrie then left the scene. 

She died at the hospital. It’s been over two years since she passed since Gorsuch was hit by an F-250 outside of the bar in downtown Guthrie.  

“I’m going to miss her and my heart is broken. There is nothing that can bring her back and I’m just hurting,” said Gorsuch’s mother, Sherri Spencer back in 2019. 

Jurors deliberated for over 5 hours on Monday concluding Simmons was not guilty. 

His attorney Scott Adams said a big factor was the lack of evidence that Simmons knew he killed someone with his truck. 

“If you’re driving an F-250 pickup, big tires and a jacked-up truck and you pull out of a parking lot it is not uncommon to curb that truck, to run over a curb, which is exactly what Zach had thought had happened,” he said.  

Gorsuch’s friends didn’t buy the argument in the months after the ordeal. 

“I think it is absurd, he is walking free. He took someone’s life, and he is free to live his life however he wants. That’s not right,” said Tara Hodges, the Victims Friend back in 2019. 

“He didn’t have any ill intent or ill will on anyone it was simply a tragic, tragic accident,” said Adams. 

The Defense Attorney said in this case once police got ahold of Simmons he cooperated with the investigation. 

“He feels horrible about the death and someone’s life being taken. Unfortunately, there is not a lot he can do about that and it’s something he is going to have to live with for the rest of his life,” he said. 

“She's gone...we will never see her again. He took somebody’s life,” said Hodges. 

We did reach out to the family and friends of Gorsuch after the verdict and have not heard back. 

The family told the Guthrie News Page they are worried this verdict sets a bad example.