PENNSYLVANIA, USA — A Vincentian man will serve jail time for an accident last year that left a Trinidadian woman dead and six others injured.
James Augustus York of Brooklyn, New York, has been sentenced to up to 17 years in prison for vehicular manslaughter in connection with the accident.
It occurred while he was reversing his van the wrong way on a major highway here on July 17, 2010.
Valisca Jeremiah, 25, of Brooklyn, New York, originally from Trinidad, died instantly in the accident.
Media reports say that after missing a turn on westbound Interstate 78, York pulled over to the shoulder and reversed to the exit.
Three of the van’s seven passengers were ejected from the vehicle and seven people were taken to hospital for treatment, according to media reports, which cited police sources.
“I shed tears for them every day. Every day,” York told Judge Maria Dantos before the sentencing, adding that he regretted what had happened.
“At the end of your trial, you said, ‘This is the worst thing to ever happen to me.’ I remember that, because it was one of the most arrogant things I’ve ever heard,” the judge said before sentencing York to a minimum of three years and five months to a maximum of 17 years in Pennsylvania State prison.
In October, a jury convicted York, 54, on 11 counts, including vehicular manslaughter.