A Warminster man who was intoxicated when he pushed his wife out of his moving truck and then fled the scene of the 2017 assault in Falls Township pleaded no contest to third-degree murder Thursday and was sentenced to 10 to 30 years in state prison. 

Andrew Lawrence Ryan, 34, was already serving seven to 20 years in state prison after pleading no contest in September 2018 to aggravated assault and related charges in the case. At the time, his wife Robin Ryan was alive but unresponsive from the severe injuries she suffered in the July 24, 2017 hit-and-run on Lincoln Highway in Falls Township. 

The young mother died in April 2019 and her husband was charged with third-degree murder months later.

On Thursday, Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge Brian T. McGuffin sentenced Andrew Ryan to 10 to 30 years in state prison to run concurrently to his previous sentence. McGuffin said in his career as a judge, he had never seen such "cold-hearted indifference to someone you say you cared about and loved."

Andrew Ryan is currently serving his sentence at SCI-Forest in Marienville, Forest County. 

“I feel terrible for Ms. Ryan’s family, knowing they’ve had to relive this horrific crime every day for years since it was committed against her," District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. "Sadly, her death now seems to have been inevitable from the moment the defendant pushed her from his moving vehicle. I don’t know that the defendant’s additional prison sentence gives Ms. Ryan’s family any peace or finality, but I pray that it does.”

Witnesses said Robin Ryan appeared to fly backward from the cab of the Ford F-250 as if she had been pushed and landed head-first on the pavement along the 100 block of Lincoln Highway in Falls Township. The truck was hauling a landscaping trailer that ran over her as Andrew Ryan sped away. 

State police stopped the truck less than 10 minutes later.

According to a criminal complaint, Ryan told police he and his wife had been “bickering” about finances prior to the incident, and said their disagreement escalated once they entered his truck. He said he fled the scene after his wife fell from the vehicle because he was “drunk,” having consumed beer and tequila at a beer immediately prior to the incident.

Robin Ryan’s severe injuries left her unresponsive and requiring of constant care until her death on April 27, 2019.

Robin Ryan's aunt and grandmother and neighbors attended Thursday's hearing and gave victim impact statements, detailing how her death devastated the family. She had a 1-year-old daughter who has since been adopted, according to Martha McMillan, Ryan's aunt, who served as her legal guardian.

"The effects of this incident has disrupted our family life forever," McMillan said Thursday. 

The case was investigated by Falls Township Police, Bucks County Detectives and the District Attorney’s Crash Investigation Unit and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Robert D. James.

Contact: Manuel Gamiz Jr., 215.348.6298, mgamiz@buckscounty.org