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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WESTFIELD, New Jersey - A Filipino-American who died 2 days after a drunk driver hit his car was laid to rest in New Jersey on Monday.
Michael Sot, 20, was making sure his friends got home safe only to be hit head on by a drunk driver last Dec. 2.
The driver, 22-year-old David Lamar, crossed over the double center line and crashed into Sot’s car. The accident also injured 7 others.
Lamar survived and was charged with vehicular homicide, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
"I want the other guy to know how he affected everyone and I want him to know how good of a kid he took out in the world. I have other fraternity brothers still in the hospital right now, unconscious, and I want him to see that too," said Sot’s best friend, Giancarlo Santo.
For many of Sot’s friends, he was not only a former star football player and an outstanding student, he was someone who put others first.
"He might be gone now, but like now, pieces of him live in every one of us and I think we just need to do our best job to carry out what things Mike would have done to people if he was here, because it’s the only way he could live on now,” Santo said.
More than $73,000 dollars has been raised at this time through a GoFundMe page to help the Sot family and other victims of the car crash.
Another GoFundMe page called TCNJ Car Accident Recovery Fund has raised more than $120,000. The money raised will be given to each family affected by the crash.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Tennis star Venus Williams will not face any criminal charges in relation to a June fatal traffic accident she was involved in near her Florida residence, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoting police.
The driver of a car that struck Williams' SUV in an intersection was also not charged, after Palm Beach Gardens police determined that neither violated the right-of-way, the newspaper reported. Palm Beach Gardens police and city clerk did not immediately respond to inquiries.
Police had initially said Williams was to blame for failing to yield the right-of-way.
But by July, Palm Beach Gardens police said video evidence had surfaced that showed that Williams entered the intersection lawfully, and that a car not involved in the collision forced Williams to stop in the intersection. The traffic light changed, and a sedan that struck Williams' SUV had a green light.
Jerome Barson, 78, who was a passenger in a sedan that collided with the SUV Williams was driving, died 13 days after the June 9 accident. His wife, Linda Barson, 68, was driving the sedan.
The Barson family has filed a wrongful death suit against Williams. Calls to attorneys for both parties were not immediately returned on Wednesday evening.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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A 21-year old Filipina was killed by a suspected drunk driver Sunday night, after celebrating her 10th anniversary of immigrating to America with her family.
Reports say Sonoma State University student Paulette Quiba was killed in a head-on collision while on her way home to Rohnert Park.
The crash happened 45 minutes after Quiba said goodbye to her family at a Concord restaurant where they were celebrating.
California Highway Patrol officers arrested 35-year old Santa Rosa man Logologoa Taumaloto Tevaseu on suspicion of murder and two drunk driving charges.
Tevasue had a previous drunk driving conviction in 2012.
Three other people were hurt in the collision that killed Quibo. They were taken to a nearby hospital with minor and moderate injuries.
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SYDNEY - Two eight-year-old boys were killed and another three children badly hurt after a car crashed into a classroom in Sydney on Tuesday, Australian police said.
A sports utility vehicle smashed through the wooden wall of the school in Sydney's west, where 24 primary-age children were in class with their teacher, police said in a statement.
Five children were rushed to hospital, including the two deceased boys. Three girls, two aged eight and another aged nine, were in a serious or stable condition in hospital. Another 16 children and their teacher were treated for minor injuries.
Local TV images showed the car punched through the wall and stopped completely inside the classroom, which is adorned with children's drawings and pictures.
"Obviously it was a scene of carnage," New South Wales state Ambulance Superintendent Stephanie Radnidge told reporters outside the school.
New South Wales Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said police were "not looking at this as an intentional act, it is a crash investigation."
Police said the driver was a 52-year-old woman who was not hurt but was taken to hospital for blood and urine tests as part of the crash investigation.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
