Probation sentence for deadly driver 'slap on wrist,' victims' loved ones say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Valley household is present near to header with a tribunal ruling portion the antheral who killed 3 of their loved ones walks escaped connected probation.

"Justice was not served successful this case," Lucia Ochoa said.

She believes the strategy failed her goddaughter, Emily, her boyfriend, Mariano, and the couple's unborn baby. The 3 died successful a September 2022 clang on Highway 99 adjacent McKinley Avenue successful West Central Fresno.

"At the clip of impact, what it caused was her car to catapult into the air," Ochoa said.

Investigators accidental Eugene Roebuck was driving drunk. He pleaded nary contention to 2 counts of manslaughter successful June of past year.

His victims' families packed the courtroom during sentencing past month. They pushed for the maximum condemnation of 12 years successful prison.

The justice handed down 12 years of probation.

"I'm aggravated with however the strategy is being interpreted," Ochoa said. "The justice was the lone 1 with the powerfulness to marque a change."

The justice utilized his discretion to condemnation Roebuck. He seemed swayed by the defence lawyer who highlighted Roebuck's struggles with intelligence wellness and said his lawsuit felt utmost remorse.

"There is nary condemnation this tribunal tin enforce to marque things right," Fresno County Superior Court Charles Lee said.

Ochoa disagrees.

"What I wanted him to bash was nonstop a connection to teens, similar my nieces and nephews, that this is thing we're not going to accept. It's not OK to portion and drive," she said.

Instead, Ochoa says Roebuck got a slap connected the wrist portion she got a slap successful the face.

"For me, it's not conscionable a slap, it's a dagger due to the fact that I person to unrecorded with the condemnation for beingness that my niece and Mariano are gone," she said.

With Roebuck present retired of jail, Ochoa hopes helium views himself arsenic an illustration and creates affirmative change.

Ochoa says she wants to spot reforms that would let for harsher punishments for first-time DUI offenders.

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