There are a lot of things in this world that get on my nerves. One of those things is when people refuse to take personal responsibility. Another thing is when people in positions of power refuse to call a spade a spade. It makes perfect sense why the jails are overflowing because they are filled with petty criminals. People with seemingly minor drug offenses end up in jail/prison, taking those spots from people that deserve to be there. What’s worse is when it’s obvious that someone should be imprisoned for a certain charge only to allow for pleas. Then, due to just plain negligence on the part of the DA’s office, the justice system ends up giving the criminal a break.
Donnette Sanz died August 14, 2008. While I did not know her or her husband, Rafael, my heart goes out to the Sanz family. Donette was a civilian member of the NYPD (traffic cop). The last thing that she did before she died was give birth to her son, Sean Michael Justin Sanz. It was not the birth that killed Donnette. The cause of her death was murder, or criminally negligent homicide, depending on how you want to look at it.
Sanz was struck by a van that was driven by 72 year old Walter Walker. When Walker hit Sans the force from the van catapulted her into a school bus that ended up running her over. She ended up trapped beneath the bus. More than 30 people ended up lifting the bus off Sanz so that she could receive emergency care. She managed to stay alive to deliver her son via C-section, but died immediately after. Sadly, the little boy died recently, as well.
Rafeal Sans was married to Donnette for four years and is very much in love with her. During reports he has spoken about how his wife donated a kidney to him prior to their wedding. Speaking of his son, while grieving over the loss of his wife he told reporters, “He meant everything to me. He died in my arms.”
Speaking of the man responsible for the loss of his family, Sanz was just as emotional, proclaiming, “I hope he really does rot in hell. I hope he dies a horrible death.”
Despite this, some might think I feel too harshly. Accidents happen all the time. Certainly Walter Walker did not mean to go out and hit and kill Donnette Sanz while she was pregnant. While that much is true, this is where personal responsibility comes in.
Walker has had more than 20 license suspensions since the 80s. Currently he does not even have a license and therefore should not be driving for the safety of those on the road. Walker was driving a van that had brakes that were deteriorated so badly that he could not stop. Sure, he meant to stop, but he couldn’t and he’s sorry. Of course, had he not be driving at all, no one would have ended up dead.
The DA calls this blatant lack of respect for the law and society as a whole, criminally negligent homicide. I call it first or second degree murder depending on how you look at it. One of the main things you need for first degree murder is premeditation. If you consider the fact that he planned to drive wherever he was going, knowing his brakes were bad and that he had no license, that is, in and of itself, a form of premeditation. This premeditated act led to the death of two people, hence, first degree murder.
If you wanted to cut him some slack you could drop the premeditation and hand over the second degree charge. Either way, murder should be somewhere in the charges. Criminally negligent homicide (The killing of another by an act of irresponsibility or lack of attention to duty, rather than by intentional act) is the same as stating that he is not fully to blame for the death and should receive a lighter prison sentence, as a result. Considering he is only in his 70s, if the prison sentence is light enough (if he serves time at all), it could mean that he’s out and able to drive with enough time to repeat his criminally negligent actions.
It is sad to see the lack of respect that we have for a mother and child that suffered from a complete act of ignorance. Hopefully one day the DA will see the folly of his ways. I just hope that he doesn’t find out by suffering the same way that Rafeal Sanz will be forced to suffer for the rest of his life.
Technorati Tags: Donnette Sanz, Rafeal Sanz, Sean Michael Justin Sanz, Walter Walker, NYPD, School Bus, Murder, Criminally Negligent Homicide, Driving, Suspended License, Bad Breaks, Traffic Cop, Kidney, Pregnant, C-Section, Early Delivery, Death, First Degree, Second Degree
Last 5 posts by Ashtyn
This is murder plain and simple. The 72 year old man said he tried to stop, but could not. Well we know why he couldn’t stop, his brakes were totally worn out. I know of other people who have also had bad accidents with vehicles in which the brakes were totally worn out. It seems that many people who realize their brakes are not working anymore as it is getting harder and harder for them to stop, are not doing anything about it. They ignore the problem hoping it will go away or the brakes will keep on working, until they end up in a tragic wreck. So this is negligent murder, not just an accident, as he had a chance to prevent this killing, but did not do anything about it. He could have driven into any auto repair shop and had his brakes replaced, but he choose to keep on driving a vehicle with bad brakes. So he should get the death penalty, just as if he had taken a gun and killed this mother and child. This was not an accident at all, it was an act of willfull neglect to repair his brakes. So have your brakes checked out at least once every 6 months and right away if they seem to not be stopping your car as soon as you apply them. Sam
Right on. This is murder, plain an simple.