A jury in California convicted a distracted driver for killing an 8-year-old boy on a bicycle, according to the Orange County Breeze. Anita Sue Cherry, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of reckless driving and was sentenced to three years of probation and 300 hours community service.
Cherry struck the young cyclist on Shawnee Road in Westminster on the morning of January 19, 2011 in her Ford SUV. The young victim, AJ Brumback, was on his way to school. The defendant claimed she looked away from the road before striking the young boy at an intersection.
Brumback, who had his bicycle helmet on, was tossed from his bike. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital where he died from the injuries he sustained in the bicycle accident.
“The loss of AJ has severely wounded our family and deeply injured a community of adults and children who knew him as a friend,” said his mother, Debbie. “I have had a year to put this letter together and am still at a loss for words. How do I continue to move each day without my little boy?”
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and the California Highway Patrol will really be cracking down. Next time you reach for the cell phone in your car, think of the possible consequences.
Bonnici Law Group, APC—San Diego wrongful death attorney.