Couple Who Ran Down USC Student and Ran Off Get Maximum Sentence

Adrian Bachan’s mother grieves at a memorial held in April of 2009. Photo via Associated Press

Last March, Claudia Cabrera was speeding through South L.A. with her boyfriend at her side and their seven month old in the back seat.  After a couple of drinks, Cabrera failed to notice a pair of USC students legally crossing the street and crashed into them with her car.  Adrian Bachan was killed instantly, while her companion, Marcus Garfinkle, was stuck on the windshield of the car with numerous injuries including two broken legs.  Cabrera stopped her car briefly so she could dislodge Garfinkle before speeding off.

Earlier today, a judge handed down eight and seven year jail sentences to Cabrera and her former boyfriend, Josue Luna respectively.  The sentences were the maximum that either could get under law.  On one hand, it’s good to see the maximum sentence handed down.  On the other hand, this is a pair of hit and runs that mangled one victim and killed another and the most they could get is seven or eight years?

The Times’ LA_Now blog has the rest of the details from today’s proceedings.