Teen Lamborghini Driver Sentenced in Crash That Killed Monique Muñoz
Monique Muñoz, 32, was killed in Los Angeles on Feb
Photo: Instagram/@justice4moniquemunoz
Monique Muñoz, 32, was killed in Los Angeles on Feb. 17 after a 17-year-old driving a Lamborghini crashed into her car after allegations he’d been street racing. Muñoz died at the scene and for months the family has sought justice. The teen is the son of millionaire businessman James Khuri who her family alleged was using his privilege to manipulate the criminal justice system. Now, almost a year later, the teen was sentenced on Oct. 21, in what is being described as the toughest sentencing available to a minor. During a disposition hearing at the Inglewood Juvenile Courthouse he was sentenced to nine months of “rigorous juvenile camp” plus four years of probation, ABC News reported.
The teen – whose identity hasn’t been revealed as he’s a minor –apologized to Muñoz’s family during the proceedings saying, “Please know that I am so deeply sorry from the bottom of my heart.” On April 23 there was a Juvenile Court petition charging him with vehicular manslaughter after he was booked on Feb. 23 on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.
“I’m looking for this kid to actually get what he deserves,” Muñoz’s uncle Richard Cartier said in August, ABC News reported. “He murdered my niece and he had no remorse for any life of any kind and he showed it.” Family and friends demonstrated outside of the courthouse on Aug. 10, after her uncle said a judge denied a request to remove the teen from house arrest, ABC news reported.
Los Angeles Police Department Officer Daniel Whitmore testified earlier this week that the vehicle’s speed was recorded at 86 mph five seconds before the impact, with the driver’s foot “completely on the gas pedal 100%” and the vehicle’s speed reaching 106 mph less than two seconds before the collision, NBC News reported. Lead investigator in the crash, LAPD Detective Jorge Trejo said that he spoke with several witnesses, including a woman who saw two cars pass her on the median before the collision.
Muñoz was working at UCLA Health as an administrative assistant in the Beverly Hills Oncology Department and had dreams of going to law school, according to her family. She was heading home during rush hour at the time of the accident.
In a letter read in court by the prosecutor, her mother, Carol Cardona, wrote that the teen made an “avoidable and deplorable choice” and that’s been so hard living without her daughter, whom she called her best friend. “The only comfort I have is that she knew how loved and adored she was,” she wrote.
