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COMPTON (CNS) - A man who struck and killed a 16-year-old boy walking at night in a crosswalk in Long Beach was sentenced Friday to six months in county jail.
Superior Court Judge Sean D. Coen also ordered Kevin Chris Dahl, 35, of Lakewood, to perform 30 days of community labor, two years probation and a driver's safety course, despite opposition from the victim's parents to the plea deal.
Dahl pleaded no contest Jan. 23 to a felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in connection with the Sept. 4, 2021, crash that killed Millikan High School senior Aiden Tai Gossage.
Deputy District Attorney Samantha Borghi told the judge that Dahl had been driving 10 to 20 mph over the posted speed limit.
Dahl was initially arrested that night on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated, but authorities determined there was not sufficient evidence to prove that Dahl was intoxicated or impaired at the time of the crash, the prosecutor said.
The judge -- who said what happened was "an absolute tragedy" that he will never forget -- said he doesn't have control over when Dahl will be released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. But he noted that the probationary term "will be hanging over the defendant's head" and that it is "imperative that the probation is successfully completed."
The judge added that Dahl could face a sentence ranging from two to six years in state prison if he violates probation.
Dahl, who received credit for five days already served, was led away in handcuffs at the end of the hearing.
The defendant can request that the felony count be reduced to a misdemeanor after a year if he completes all of the terms of his sentence, according to the prosecutor.
The victim's mother, Lily Gossage, told reporters outside court that the family had asked for a longer sentence of one year -- with no less than nine months.
An online petition that was started late last month by the victim's mother and signed by more than 3,000 people called for a longer sentence and urged the judge to "reject the plea deal."
"I didn't realize how upset they were with this type of crime, but the fact that we were able to get over 3,000 (signatures) in less than two weeks, two-and-a-half weeks, speaks to the fact that the community cannot tolerate another death like this," Lily Gossage said. "This was not a jaywalker. It was a child walking legally in the street."
The "Justice for Aiden Tai Gossage" petition notes that surveillance video from a nearby resident's house recorded the teen's death and "shows that the headlights from Mr. Dahl's vehicle fully illuminated Aiden's entire body before Mr. Dahl entered the intersection."
"If Mr. Dahl had been traveling at the speed limit of 40 mph, he would have had ample time to stop or steer toward the left-hand lane to avoid hitting Aiden," according to the petition. "If Mr. Dahl chose to travel at the posted speed limit (40 mph) and brake his vehicle into a locked-wheel skid just before entering the intersection, he would have skidded only 40 feet, which is less than the length of the intersection. Aiden would not have been harmed. However, at the speed Mr. Dahl was driving, he skidded 130 feet."
Dahl was behind the wheel of a 2001 Chevrolet Tracker that struck the teen as he crossed Los Coyotes Diagonal at Deborah Street in a marked crosswalk at about 9:10 p.m.
Paramedics arriving at the location pronounced Gossage dead at the scene.
He would have turned 17 just under three weeks later, according to his father, Greg, who works as a criminalist for the Long Beach Police Department.
"If I could have my son back, I'd forget all about this," he said, calling him his "hero."
Millikan High School Principal Alejandro Vega sent a letter to parents and the school community after the boy's death, writing that "this loss is sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school, especially our students."