Of course, pro-illegal supporters will be the first to say that “Many more Americans are killed by citizens”. I SAY, those killed by illegals would STILL be alive if the illegal that killed them had not come here in the first place!***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************DWI killer of mother, daughter gets maximum sentence
By Terence Corcoran • tcorcora@lohud.com • January 14, 2010
CARMEL — An illegal immigrant who was driving with no license and a blood-alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit when he plowed into and killed a Southeast mother and daughter received the maximum sentence Wednesday of 8 1/3 to 25 years in state prison.
Conses Garcia-Zacarias, 35, who has been held in the Putnam County jail since the June 8 fatalities, pleaded guilty in November to two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Lori Donohue, 37, and her 8-year-old daughter, Kayla. The second-grader and her mother were leaving the girl’s dance class at Seven Stars School of Performing Arts in Brewster when Garcia-Zacarias struck them with a pickup truck.
The act instantly took away half of the Donohue family, leaving Robert Donohue and his 5-year-old son, Christopher, grieving for the wife and mother, sister and daughter they lost.
“Explaining to my 5-year-old son that he can never again hug and kiss his mommy and sister has been devastating to him, me and our whole family,” Donohue told the court Wednesday.
Donohue was accompanied in Putnam County Court by more than two dozen friends and family members who took up four of the six rows in the courtroom.
Lori Donohue’s father, John Luhrs, 70, of Bethel, Conn., also gave a victim-impact statement. He placed photos of his daughter and granddaughter on the prosecutor’s table before looking up at Putnam County Judge James Rooney and saying, “Your Honor: A parent’s worst nightmare.”
Lori Donohue grew up in Yonkers and rose through the ranks at Dorian Drake International Inc. in Harrison, where she worked as a sales manager. Kayla attended JFK Elementary School, played softball and swam. She was a Girl Scout and had been collecting cookies to send to troops in Iraq when she was killed.
Kayla Donohue was pronounced dead at the scene of the 6:35 p.m. crash while Lori Donohue was flown to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where she later died.
In an instant, all of our lives drastically changed,” Luhrs said. “Our hearts are absolutely broken — no, our hearts have been ripped out.”
The deaths grieved and outraged the community and reignited the debate about illegal immigration, drinking and driving, and the hiring of undocumented workers.
RelatedGallery: Man gets maximum in DWI deaths
Garcia-Zacarias worked on horse farms in the U.S. for several years and the white, F-350 Ford pickup truck with Florida plates he was driving that night was registered to Valerie Renihan, a horse trainer who leased the house on Tonetta Lake Road in Southeast where Garcia-Zacarias and several other men were living.
Renihan, whose Facebook page said in June that she was working out of Staysail Farm in North Salem, has said through an attorney that she never gave Garcia-Zacarias permission to use the truck and that he got drunk that day and stole the keys.
Neighbors said he and the other men living in the rented house regularly used the vehicle.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Christopher York said the criminal investigation is open and active.
Rooney said Garcia-Zacarias told a probation officer that he was so drunk the evening of June 8 he did not remember the fatal crash.
Police say he sped down the wrong side of Brewster’s Main Street and barreled through a T intersection at routes 6 and 22. The truck crossed the narrow parking area dividing the road from the dance school building and ran over Lori and Kayla Donohue as other horrified parents, children and instructors stood nearby.
Through an interpreter, Garcia-Zacarias expressed remorse and talked about how his actions have hurt his own family.
“I apologize to the family and I ask forgiveness. It was not my intention and it’s something that could happen to any of us,” he said. “I ask them to forgive me. I have my two daughters over there (in Guatemala) who are also suffering because of this.”
Garcia-Zacarias will serve his sentences on the two counts of vehicular homicide concurrently, or at the same time, as stipulated by the law, Rooney said.
“Do not look to me for forgiveness,” Rooney told him in imposing the maximum. “God may grant you mercy, Mr. Zacarias, but this court will not.”
Garcia-Zacarias faces deportation to his native Guatemala after serving his time.
Donohue said his family would fight any effort by Garcia-Zacarias to shorten his sentence.
“At every parole hearing he has, he will see our faces,” Donohue said
