The Arapahoe District Attorney’s Office has come under fire after it gave an unlicensed illegal alien teenager, 15, probation for killing a 24-year-old woman in a car accident.
Two years’ probation, which includes 100 hours of community service, required school, and a promise not to break any laws.
From CBS Colorado:
The accident happened last July in Aurora. The victim, Kaitlyn Weaver, was headed home from work when a Jeep, barreling through a residential neighborhood, slammed into her car. The speed limit in the area was 45 mph. Investigators say the driver was doing more than 90 mph.”She didn’t even see him coming,” her dad, John Weaver, said. “That’s how fast he was going. She was effectively killed instantly.”He says he and his wife Michelle removed their daughter from life support 2 days later, “How do you fathom that loss?”
The teenager had kids in the car with him.
The office charged him with vehicular homicide, promising to pursue two years in youth corrections, which is the maximum sentence.
A few months later, District Attorney Amy Padden offered the teen two years’ probation if he pleaded guilty:
“Why the change? If he had taken a firearm and recklessly just shot it and killed someone, this would be a different case. They would be pushing it completely differently,” Weaver said. “There’s no deterrence.”There’s also no financial liability, he says, despite his daughter’s medical bills, which came to nearly $1 million.The Jeep was uninsured, and the juvenile’s mom says he took it without permission, so she isn’t responsible either.Weaver says the system is broken: “Immigration and the criminal justice system and all these things landed together one day in Aurora and now I sit here today without a daughter.”
Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley attempted to explain the process, but only dug a deeper hole:
Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley says an experienced prosecutor handled the plea deal without any direct involvement by the new administration. A judge, he notes, upheld the deal after hearing from the family.He says before any plea deal, prosecutors consider “the impact on the victims and the community,” “the characteristics of the defendant such as age, culpability, and level of remorse,” and the “goals of sentencing, including deterrence, rehabilitating the offender, treating similarly situated offenders equitably, and holding each offender accountable.”
Which family? If it was after consulting the Weaver family, then that judge has no heart and soul.
Brackley said, I kid you not, “the negotiated sentence acknowledges the seriousness of this preventable tragedy.”
The audacity of these people. I just cannot. Especially since if the teen violates his probation, the plea deal included a provision that doesn’t mean his probation wouldn’t be automatically revoked.
The teen’s mother said she would send him back to Colombia.
However, the teen filed for asylum.
Weaver’s dad said: “I hope that he makes something of himself and that he remembers the chance he got and I hope that he doesn’t forget her.”
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