Driver Charged In Fatal Beacon Street Crash Pleads Guilty
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — A Boston man charged with being behind the wheel of an SUV that struck and killed a young couple out for walk in the Back Bay in June changed his plea to guilty on Friday.
Mohamed Alfageeh, of the city's Allston neighborhood, appeared Friday in Suffolk Superior Court, pleading guilty to two counts of motor vehicle homicide.
A third charge of negligent operation of a motor vehicle was dismissed.
"This was a tragic crash that took two innocent lives and forever changed the lives of their loved ones. It is all the more tragic knowing that their deaths were entirely preventable," Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said in a statement.
Each count carried a mandatory 30 days in prison and could have been punished with up to two and a half years.
The judge in the case, however, ruled Alfageeh serve a year and a half total in prison, one year for the first count and six months for the second.
The balance of 18 months will be suspended during a three-year probation period. Any violation of his probation would lead to Alfageeh finishing the remainder of his sentence.
Alfageeh will next appear before a judge on February 5.
Authorities determined the 31-year-old Alfageeh was driving on the night of June 21 when the SUV struck and killed 28-year-old John Lanzillotti and 27-year-old Jessica Campbell, both of Brookline.
Prosecutors alleged that Alfageeh's vehicle ran a red light, hit another vehicle then flipped and slid into the couple at the intersection of Beacon and Fairfield streets.
During his Friday appearance, Alfageeh's who is a part-owner of a convenience store, had an interpreter at his side to be certain he understood what his guilty plea means. Alfageeh is originally from Yemen.
As a result of the guilty plea, Alfageeh's license will also be revoked for several years, the judge said.
Alfageeh's wife, Ghuzlan Alghazali, was originally charged with the deaths, but prosecutors later dropped charges because there was some confusion over who was driving.
Campbell's mother gave a victim impact statement, saying "we are just left a fractured family." She said she is not full of anger because her sense of grief and loss is greater.
"I don't have the words to tell you how shattered we are," Campbell's mother said in the courtroom.
"Nothing is going to bring Jess or Jack back to us. I just hope people remember them as what they were. Two honest, really good people."
Lanzillotti's parents also addressed the courtroom about their son, who was Manager of the Red Sox Productions and Game Operation for the team.
"The grieving process is very, very hard for us all to deal with," said Patricia Lanzillotti.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mark Katic reports
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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