In April 2015, investigators say Tristyn Dino ran a stop sign at Tangerine Boulevard and 120 Avenue in The Acreage and hit Brittany Baxter's car. She died at the scene.
Dino was in court Wednesday to face a citation for running the stop sign.
The proceedings ended abruptly when Judge Frank Castor took himself off of the case. He said this to Dino's attorney Edward McGee: "Mr. McGee I am not going to be able to sentence your client, I need to recuse myself from this case. My daughter knew Ms. Baxter."
"He (the judge) did what he felt had to do to recusing and I have admiration for that," McGee said.
For Brittany's family, however, the judge's decision was just the latest setback since her death nearly one year ago. A few months ago they learned Dino would not face criminal charges in the crash. And now they had to deal with a delay on the traffic citation hearing.
"I'm just really disappointed with the system the way it works. There was a fatality and my daughter was killed," Brittany's father Eric Baxter said.
The case will likely continue when a new judge is appointed.
Meanwhile, more tears are being shed for the young woman who died just weeks before graduating from high school.
"Her laugh, her smile, her friendship, she was our best friend, all of us," said Brittany's friend Shea McKenna.
