More than six months after a father and daughter cycling on Treat Boulevard were hit and killed by a car, the teenage driver responsible has been sentenced and will spend the next three years in juvenile custody.
In a hearing Monday, a judge handed down the maximum possible sentence of seven years and eight months for the teenager. However, since the teen was 17 at the time of the incident, he can only be held until his 21st birthday. He turned 18 this month. California law stipulates that juveniles cannot be charged as adults for vehicular manslaughter.
The teenager initially pleaded not guilty in the case but changed his plea last month. He was convicted of two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and unlawful acts, and driving causing injury. The April 7 crash killed Solaiman Nuri, 41, and his 9-year-old daughter Hadessa. Hannah Nuri, 12, survived the collision.
The circumstances of the incident were described in court Monday. Witnesses heard how the then-17-year-old driver sped through a yellow light on Treat Boulevard at Oak Grove Road, accelerating to 71 mph in the 45-mph zone as he dodged around two cars. He then lost control, hit the father and his two daughters and crashed through a fire hydrant, brick wall and pillars along the side of the road.
Investigators deemed that the teen had no drugs or alcohol in his bloodstream and had not been texting at the time of the collision. The teenager, however, was driving without insurance and had only had his license for around six months.
Solaiman Nuri died at the scene of the crash while Hadessa succumbed to her injuries a short time later at a hospital. According to the family's attorney, Michael Cardoza, wife and mother Stoorai Nuri was hoping that the teenager would be charged as an adult so that the conviction would stay on his permanent record. However, Cardoza, the juvenile system is a rehabilitative process and "justice was served."
The teen will spend the next three years at a locked facility in the Youthful Offender Treatment Program. Patch has decided not to name the teenager due to his age.
Related Poll: Should Minors Be Charged as Adults for Vehicular Manslaughter?
