Hit-and-run victims' families demand major change to existing law

Families were concerned that current laws allow offenders to escape with minimal punishment.

PUBLISHED OCT 12, 2024

Lawyers believe proving impairment in hit-and-run cases is particularly challenging, which further complicates sentencing.

Phoenix, Arizona: Families of victims killed by hit-and-run drivers gathered outside the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, demanding justice and stricter penalties for those responsible. The rally had one goal in mind: to push for mandatory prison sentences, something not guaranteed under current Arizona law. Many of the participants had lost loved ones to hit-and-run incidents and were concerned that current laws allow offenders to escape with minimal punishment.

Caserina Hawkins' husband Martin was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

The rally was organized by families who all share a common story: they have each lost a family member or friend to a hit-and-run driver. They voiced their frustrations that plea deals offered by prosecutors often lead to light sentences, leaving victims' families feeling that justice has not been served.

A Phoenix attorney, who was present at the event, explained that in most hit-and-run cases, prosecutors are restricted by Arizona's laws in terms of the sentences they can pursue. He emphasized that until the laws are amended, prosecutors’ hands are tied, limiting their ability to seek longer prison terms even when they believe it is warranted. The families are now on a mission to convince state lawmakers to make prison time mandatory for any hit-and-run driver whose actions result in a fatality.

The families are now on a mission to convince state lawmakers to make prison time mandatory.

Caserina Hawkins, whose husband Martin was killed by a hit-and-run driver, told Arizona's Family that the individual responsible could potentially avoid prison time. "There's no justice for them to be able to kill somebody and walk away while we have to pick up the pieces of our lives," Hawkins said. She expressed her devastation over having to make the heartbreaking decision to take her husband off life support, a decision that still haunts her.

The rally was organized by families who have each lost a family member or friend to a hit-and-run driver.

Currently, those convicted of hit-and-run offenses can receive anything from probation to a maximum of eight years in prison, depending on the circumstances of the case. Families believe that without mandatory prison time, offenders are not truly held accountable for the lives they have taken.

Lawyers believe that proving impairment in hit-and-run cases is particularly challenging, which further complicates sentencing. "If someone leaves the scene and is arrested two days later, it’s hard to prove impairment, which would significantly increase the amount of prison time they could face," one noted.