By EMS1 Staff

DELAWARE CITY, Del. — A driver who killed a firefighter-paramedic treating a patient on a roadside in Delaware was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday, according to The News Journal.

Paraplegic Joseph Taye, who used a stick to work the pedals in the vehicle, struck Michelle Smith while she was tending to the victim of a motorcycle crash on Dec. 20 last year. She had arrived at the accident scene in a Delaware City Fire Company ambulance.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Jerome O. Herlihy ruled Smith's status at the time of the accident was as a firefighter, The News Journal reported. The ruling meant Taye could be convicted first-degree murder, which carries an automatic sentence of life in prison.

Judge Herlihy said even though Smith was not dressed as a firefighter on the night of the incident and was not on the fire truck that responded, she qualified as a firefighter under the law because she had completed her training and had been designated a firefighter by the fire company.

The News Journal reported that had she been defined an "ambulance driver" or " emergency medical responder," Taye would have been guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter, which carries between two to 25 years in prison.

Dave Carpenter Jr., a spokesman for the Delaware City Fire Company, said after the case the department is pleased with the outcome, adding its thoughts and prayers are with Smith's family.

Back in July, Governor Jack A. Markell signed into law Michelle Smith's Law to help protect all emergency services personnel in the future who put their lives in harm’s way to help citizens.

House Bill 204 added paramedics, EMTs, fire marshals and fire police officers to a list of first responders including firefighters and police officers whose death can result in a capital first-degree murder charge.