LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The driver of the car that slammed into a minivan that killed a Filipina girl and her grandmother in 2016 has been sentenced to life in prison.
Cheyenne Wyllie of Springville, California ran a stop sign before hitting the Espinosa family’s minivan in Tulare County, killing 69-year-old Angelita Espinosa and her 10-year old granddaughter Jamie. It also left George Espinosa, the girl's father, severely injured.
“Well, she was crying. But for me, to be remorseful you have to acknowledge that you did something wrong. I hope she learns to realize that what she did is really devastating and hopefully learn from it," said Charlotte, George's widow who also survived the crash.
The Espinosa family were on their way home from a trip to Yosemite National Park when the incident happened.
“We are trying to get by every day. It’s still hard to wake up every day without your mom, your daughter,” said Charlotte.
Investigation had found that Wyllie was driving under the influence, with a .21-percent blood alcohol content.
Charlotte said her husband had to stop working because he still has to go through a number of surgeries.
“The effects of what she did to my husband will be [for a] lifetime…we’ll be spending for his medicines, he is disabled right now, the loss of income for both of us is too much,” she added.
The last three years has been a nightmare for her and her family going back and forth to the hospital as well as to court. But she said her faith in the US justice system has been fully restored.
“I believe, in what we went through, it has strengthened my faith in the justice system. Nobody can elude justice. I’m so thankful for the DA (District Attorney) in Tulare [that] processed our case as a crime and not just as an accident because drunk driving is indeed a crime and is a preventable crime. It can be life-altering, it can be life-ending for some just like what happened to us,” she said.
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source: news.abs-cbn.com
