The final sentence has been handed down for the driver of the car that killed two high school girls in front of Oakton High School in Virginia in June 2022. The driver of the car that killed two high school girls was found guilty in April and was sentenced to four years in prison at the sentencing trial held on the 6th. The driver of the car that was hit was Usman Shahid, who was 18 years old at the time, and was driving 81 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone when he struck the sidewalk.
This killed 15-year-old Leeyan Hanjia Yan and 14-year-old Ada Gabriela Martinez Nolasco, both students at Oakton High School, and injured another student. The jury recommended a sentence of four years, and the judge could have sentenced him to a maximum of four years or a reduced sentence, but he followed the recommendation and sentenced him to four years. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
The victim’s family said, “We respect the court’s decision, but we don’t know if four years is enough,” adding, “We’ve been living a life of hell every day since the accident.” Ahn Yang’s mother said, “I allowed my friends to go to the nearby IHOP to celebrate the end of the semester on the day of the accident… I even moved closer to the school so that I could walk to school… Every night when I go to bed, tears run down my face,” expressing irreversible regret and pain.
Meanwhile, the defence attorney emphasized that he was a minor with no criminal record and argued, “He wanted to show off his new car like any other 18-year-old boy,” but added, “He has been punished and continues to be punished and will have to live with it for the rest of his life.”
The final sentence was handed down two years after the accident, but the victim’s family said they plan to file another lawsuit.
While the details have not been disclosed yet, the family said, “There is no way to avoid it. There is no place to go, no place to hide, no one to talk to, and no medicine to take,” adding, “This is why we live in hell.”