The young driver stole a car with three other juveniles, ran a red light, and collided with another car, killing a DC. The mother was sentenced Friday afternoon.
In a tear-filled courtroom, Prince George’s County Judge Todd Steuart sentenced 18-year-old Michael Collins to seven years in prison in connection with the vehicular death of Shaunte Canty, a mother of two from Washington, DC.
“My life has not been the same. That was my firstborn. That is who made me a mother. “It’s difficult,” remarked a teary Carletta Chase.
Collins ran a red light in Landover, Maryland, last August while driving her nonverbal, autistic son to speech therapy. The car collided with Canty’s vehicle, killing her at the scene.
Her son survived with a few fractured bones.
Collins, who was 16 years old at the time of the collision, pled guilty to auto theft and vehicular manslaughter and was tried as an adult.
According to what we heard in court, Collins got into a lot of problems as a juvenile, which influenced the judge’s decision to sentence him to seven years, which is regarded on the high end of Maryland’s sentencing guidelines.
Canty’s sister believed he should have received a heavier punishment.
“If you use your free will to steal a car, you must face the consequences.” I’m not saying he got up and took a car, drove it purposely, and declared he was going to kill Shaunte today. “He didn’t know my sister,” Erica Chase explained.
Canty’s mother told us following his sentencing that the agony of losing her eldest has overwhelmed and crushed the family, particularly Shaunte’s two children, who are now five and six years old.
“I have my other two children. They’ve always been there for me. “But I still don’t have Shaunte,” remarked Canty’s mother.
Collins, who has already served approximately a year and two months, will receive just under a six-year prison sentence. If Collins breaks his probation when he is released, the judge has stated that he would be detained for several years more.
Collins apologized to the family in open court and accepted responsibility for his conduct.
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