Mother Of Taunton Hit & Run Victim Says Justice Has Not Been Served
TAUNTON (CBS) - The mother of a man killed in a hit and run crash in Taunton says justice has not been served.
One of the people who was in that car has been sentenced to serve one year in prison. The victim's mother says that's nothing but a slap on the wrist.
"I was very angry and I'm very resentful of the judge, and I guess I'll always feel that way. I think it's another miscarriage of justice," says Caryn Alfano.
She often thinks back to that day last November when her 36-year-old son Michael Alfano was hit by a car, dragged and killed while riding his bike in Taunton. The driver and a passenger took off.
"They just decided to go, go, go," Alfano says. When they finally stopped- "This passenger got out of the car, pulled the bike off, had to kick it off with force, that's how ingrained it was into the vehicle," she says.
The passenger, Ryan O'Day was found guilty of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Caryn says his 1-year jail sentence and 18 months probation is far too light.
"The police do their work, the DAs do their work, and the judge lets them go, and I don't understand it," she says.
The car's driver has been charged, but hasn't gone to trial yet. "And I have no faith in that either. No faith," Alfano says.
Caryn will always wonder if Michael would have survived if only the car hadn't sped away. "He had a lot of friends. He had children. He was extremely creative, a very gifted tattoo artist. I'm certain if they struck him and immediately stopped the vehicle, there was a chance," she says.
A chance Caryn says was lost for both her son and herself. "I'm so angry because they stole Michael's life and they stole my hope," she says.
We reached out to the judge who handed down the sentence, but we didn't get a response.
