Man Sentenced In Crash Deaths Of 3 Upper St. Clair Teens
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A man convicted in the deaths of three Upper Saint Clair teens was sentenced Tuesday afternoon.
Ryan Safka was sentenced to 2 ½ to 6 years in state prison after being found guilty in February on all charges related to the deaths of David Rizzo, Tara Schulz and Derek Phillips.
They were killed two years ago when the car Safka was driving plunged over a hillside off of the Parkway West. Investigators say the vehicle hit speeds upward of 100 miles an hour.
It was clear though that some of the family members of the victims were not happy with the sentence.
"No, absolutely not," said David Rizzo, the father of one of the victim's. "I don't know what's enough time to be honest with you, I really don't; but I don't feel the remorse from the defendant. I don't think he's remorseful at all."
In his statement to the families, he told them there isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't think about what happened.
"David, Tara and Derek are in a life sentence right now in eternity and no one gave Ryan Safka the authority to be a judge and jury and convict those guys," said Frank Rizzo, a victim's uncle.
Others though welcomed the sentence.
"We're just glad it's finally come to some type of a semi-closure for us," said Beverly Schulz, Tara's grandmother. "There's never going to be enough time to pay."
"It is what it is, but to me, it's a lot more than what it could have been," added Janet Phillips, Derek's mother. "I mean, we were told that it could have been less; so honestly, I'm glad with the outcome."
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