The teen driver remains at juvenile hall after being ordered to be taken into custody immediately after his guilty pleas Wednesday morning in a Martinez courtroom where both a judge and prosecutor called him a "danger to society."
"I just want justice for me and my daughter and the family," Storai Nuri said tearfully. Nori said the admission of guilt by the teenage driver who killed her husband Solaman and young daughter Hadessa does little to lessen her pain. "Everybody's a parent. Everybody's a wife. Everybody's a sister. Everybody's a brother. Put yourself in my shoes and you tell me how would you feel," she said.
The boy at the wheel of the SUV pleaded guilty to two counts of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the deaths of Solaiman and 9-year-old Hadessa, and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving for the injuries to another daughter, 12-year-old Hanna Nuri. The pleas were part of an agreement made with juvenile prosecutor Dan Cabral, who believes the boyis sorry for his actions. "He admitted it at an early stage, which is an indication that he's remorseful. It comes across to me that he is," he said.
In court, his attorney acknowledged the boy was driving 72 miles per hour in 45 mile per hour zone when his car jumped the curb and hit the family. "We're hoping he gets the max punishment and it sends a message to other drivers that you have to be responsible for your actions," family member Emal Karzai said. The teen's parents were in the courtroom. He was immediately taken into custody.
At one point, the boy stood up to apologize directly to the sobbing Nuri family but the judge decided that should wait until his sentencing. "He did want to apologize today immediately after he admitted his guilt, but the family's attorney didn't want him to do that today. So, he'll get his chance. We'll get that opportunity. He really wanted to express his remorse to the family," the boy's attorney Peter Coleridge said.
"This young man, at some point, no matter what jail time is given, will walk away from this and he will move on with his life. She will always suffer this loss and always be reminded of this," Nuri family attorney Michael Cardoza said.
The boy will be back in court in Martinez on October 22 for formal sentencing. He could receive a maximum of seven years in juvenile hall, but the law requires that he be released at the age of 21. He will turn 18 next Wednesday, a birthday he will spend at juvenile hall.
