Teens sentenced for pushing log off cliff, killing Ohio photographer taking portraits

Two teens accused of pushing a log over a cliff and killing an Ohio photographer taking portraits below them have been sentenced.

The 16-year-old and 17-year-old were sentenced Friday to three years in a juvenile detention center in the photographer’s death after they pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, WCMH reported. Victoria Schafer, 44, died after the falling log hit her at Hocking Hills State in September 2019, police say.

The teens are not being named because the case was transferred to juvenile court.

“My children are very compassionate,” Schafer’s husband, Fritz Schafer, said, according to WCMH. “And what ultimately helped us make this decision, to offer this one deal, is that Victoria was a very compassionate person and we all felt that she would have wanted to give them a second chance. And her dad and mom and sister came to the same conclusion.”

Schafer was taking senior portraits on Labor Day at the state park when a 75-pound log fell from above and fatally hit her, WSYX reported.

Miranda Spencer, another teen at the park with the boys, was recently charged with felony obstruction after she testified in the case, the Associated Press reported.