Nadia Bellifemini pleads guilty to causing death of Marjorie Morritt in careless road crash at Elizabeth East

A woman who killed a beloved hospital volunteer and grandmother as she walked to a celebration for her 79th birthday has pleaded guilty.

A young woman who fatally ran down a great-grandmother and beloved hospital volunteer on her 79th birthday has pleaded guilty.

On Wednesday, Hillbank woman Nadia Bellifemini appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court set to answer the charges against her – for the third scheduled time.

The court heard prosecutors would remove the circumstance of aggravation associated with the charge and Bellifemini pleaded guilty to one count of a new charge – cause death by careless use of a motor vehicle.

Nadia Bellifemini outside Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday. Picture: Brett Hartwig

This change means she will now be sentenced in the Magistrates Court, and not the higher District Court.

Bellifemini, 23, was reported after the crash at the roundabout of Midway Rd and Kinkaid Rd at Elizabeth East on July 2 last year.

She ran down Marjorie Morritt as the Lyell McEwin volunteer walked to the hospital for her shift – and as her colleagues waited for her with a birthday cake.

On Wednesday, before Magistrate Roderick Jensen, Bellifemini became the second person in SA to plead guilty to the new charge, after Elizabeth Meg Krainz, 28, entered her pleas in June following the death of a motorcyclist in Aldinga.

Marjorie Morritt was killed in the crash at Elizabeth East. Picture: 7NEWS

The charge of causing death by careless use of a motor vehicle came into force on January 1 as a result of public outcry after the outcome of Sophia Naismith’s case.

Sophia, 15, was killed by a $330,000 Lamborghini Huracan on Morphett Rd, Glengowrie, in June 2019.

Driver Alexander Damian Campbell was acquitted of causing Sophia’s death by dangerous

driving and given a suspended four-month sentence for careless driving.

Court documents previously viewed by The Advertiser show Bellifemini told police she was on her way to work at the time of the crash, had travelled the route five days a week for the past five years, and would often experience vision interference due to the angle of the rising morning sun.

Mr Jensen adjourned the matter to a date in September, to allow for members of Ms Morritt’s family to attend court.

Outside court, Bellifemini remained silent as her counsel told media there would be no comments made at this time.

Originally published as Nadia Bellifemini pleads guilty to causing death of Marjorie Morritt in careless road crash at Elizabeth East