Sunday Joseph has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after a vehicle he was driving crashed into a tent at a child’s birthday party in Bladensburg, Maryland. Photo / Bill O'Leary, Washington Post
The house in Bladensburg, Maryland, was home to celebrations.
Members of the Gutierrez family and friends gathered there in October to mark a 6-year-old’s birthday. After cutting the cake, an attendee recalled, the party began to wind down.
But the scene of celebration soon turned to chaos. About 10pm, a driver crashed into a tent in the front yard, where some attendees were still gathered. Police and witnesses say some victims, including children, were thrown across the ground and others were trapped underneath a gold Toyota Camry.
Ashley Hernandez Gutierrez, 31, was killed and 13 others, including eight children, were injured. The driver ran from the scene.
Yesterday, more than six months after the tragedy, a judge sentenced driver Sunday Joseph to 10 years in prison in connection with the crash.
The rows inside the courtroom were packed with victims and family members of Gutierrez, 14 of whom spoke during the hearing, including her mother, crying as they did so.
“I have flashbacks that come without warning, when I am driving, when I am at work,” said Karina Gutierrez, Ashley’s cousin. “This is my new normal now.”
Joseph, 66, of Washington DC, pleaded guilty to one count of failing to remain at the scene that a driver should have known “might result in death and death occurred”, and 14 counts of reckless driving.
“A young lady was killed, babies were hit ... who will never ever be able to enjoy a birthday party without thinking about, ‘Am I going to get run over by a car?’” Prince George’s Circuit Court Judge Dorothy M. Engel said.
Relatives and friends described Ashley Gutierrez as a cheerful person who worked as a nanny and loved children. “We will never again hear her laugh, hug her or share another family gathering with her presence lighting up the room,” one of them said.
Officials said Joseph was driving his car in reverse from the area of Annapolis Rd in Bladensburg on October 18.
Assistant State Attorney Joel Patterson said Joseph ran off with the keys after the crash. He turned himself in to authorities the next morning. Earlier this year, he was indicted on 36 counts, including negligent manslaughter.
At the time, Bladensburg interim police chief Daniel Frishkorn said the crash appeared to be an accident. Some witness information indicated it may have been alcohol-related, with speed as a factor.
Joseph’s lawyer, Rodney Hermann, said in court yesterday that his client did not drink, and alcohol was not a factor in the crash. He said Joseph had ailments, including diabetes, that caused his legs to go numb and could make operating car pedals difficult. He was trying to back up a little when he crashed.
Frishkorn said a Bladensburg police officer patrolling the area spotted the aftermath of the crash and was “waved down”.
Additional officers who responded helped to lift Joseph’s car, which was lodged in the tent, to free people trapped underneath.
“This was a moment of joy that was turned into a tragedy,” Patterson said in court.
After the crash, Joseph put the car in park and ran away with his keys. “Those gears were locked up over the victims. ... That car had to be lifted and moved off of the victims,” Patterson said.
Karina Gutierrez spoke of the crash’s impact on her and her children. “They struggle with fear. They wake up to the smallest sounds. They have lost their sense of safety.”
Marleda Miller, 37, used a cane to walk to the front of the courtroom to address the judge. She spoke of the 10 broken ribs she suffered and how she now has a plate in her back. She goes back and forth to doctors and experiences shortness of breath.
Miller said she constantly thought about the crash. “I remember trying to crawl out and help others, but I couldn’t do anything.”
She was lying next to Ashley and screamed for help.
“I remember seeing Ashley. This was the last face I saw before I blacked out, which is also something I see every time I close my eyes.”
Moments before he was sentenced, Joseph addressed the court. His words were so soft they were difficult to hear, but he was crying and wiping his eyes.
“He’s very sorry,” his lawyer told the judge, describing his behaviour since being arrested. “Mentally, he seems a little slower, he seems defeated.”
Joseph, who is married with five children, grew up in Nigeria before migrating to the US in 2003 and becoming a citizen. Since 2005, he has worked as a parking lot attendant.
Under his plea deal, he faced more than 12 years in prison. Engel said she appreciated hearing about his health conditions, including diabetes, but said she had to account for the tragedy he caused.
Ashley Gutierrez’s mother told the judge how dark her days had become. Every day, she said, she hoped for, if not expected, her daughter to arrive home and ask as she always did: “How was your day, Mommy?”
Her mother remembered the hours after the crash, speaking with doctors at the hospital. “She’s fighting. She’s fighting,” they told her, she recalled as cries swept over the courtroom.
But by 7am, she told the judge, her daughter could no longer hang on.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.