Darleene Barrientos
The La Crescenta driver charged with hitting and killing Crescenta
Valley High School sophomore Christine Seo was sentenced Monday to
six months in jail.
Carnell Parks, 51, pleaded no contest to charges of vehicular
manslaughter involving alcohol, and driving under the influence and
causing injury, Deputy Dist. Atty. Christian Gullon said. The court
sentenced Parks to six months in jail with three years of probation
over the prosecutor's objections, Gullon said.
"The six months the court sentenced him to was not what we
wanted," he said. "We wanted more than that."
Gullon declined to give details about the sentence the state was
seeking for Parks. Police said the charges could have carried a
sentence of up to six years in prison.
Parks' attorney could not be reached for comment.
Christine, who was 15, was hit by Parks' sport utility vehicle
Feb. 4 as she walked in the lighted crosswalk at Altura and
Pennsylvania avenues in La Crescenta. Christine died of the injuries
she sustained in the accident the next day at Huntington Memorial
Hospital in Pasadena. Parks was arrested at the scene, but released
later on bail.
Crescenta Valley High School Co-principal Linda Evans said she
found Parks' sentence hard to reconcile with the loss of Christine's
life.
"I'm not a judge. I don't know the law and I didn't review the
evidence," Evans said. "But there's just something about six months
and three years probation and the life of a young person. There's
just something about the math that doesn't add up."
Christine's death sparked a call from the community for a
stoplight at the intersection where she died. Neighbors said the
intersection has been the site of many near misses in the past.
Under an agreement between the city of Glendale and Los Angeles
County, a traffic signal will be installed in January. The
installation, slated to be completed in April, will cost $125,000,
which will be divided evenly between city and county funds.
Parks is scheduled to surrender to the court Nov. 7.
