Lynn woman sentenced in fatal crash

LYNN – A judge ordered a city woman to spend 9 months in jail for a 2012 crash that killed a young Lynn man and seriously injured the man’s twin brother as the two walked home from a convenience store.
“The only good that I can see coming from this nightmare is that it sends a clear message to all motorists; Pedestrians have the right-of-way,” Gerry McManus, the father of the twins, said in an impact statement. “Therefore, when practiced, courtesy towards pedestrians, and each other, saves lives just as the law intends.”
Angela Okonkwo, 38, of 339 Linwood St., Lynn, was convicted Monday of motor-vehicle homicide by negligent operation in connection with a Sept. 2012 motor-vehicle crash in Austin Square in which Riley McManus, 22, was seriously injured and his twin brother, Dillon McManus, was killed. Okonkwo was also charged with a civil infraction of a crosswalk violation.
Riley and Dillon McManus walked to the 7-Eleven in Austin Square across from their family home on Boston Street on Sept. 18, 2012. It was a trip the brothers took many times, and always using the crosswalks that start from just outside their home’s side door, Riley McManus testified during the trial.
But as the twins walked home across Boston Street at approximately 11 p.m., a Hummer driven by Okonkwo struck them. Okonkwo pulled over immediately and called police, reporting the crash. Gerry McManus, came outside to see what had happened; not knowing the victims were his sons.
Essex Assistant District Attorney Erin Bellavia told the jury an investigation of the crash and the conditions at the time of the incident revealed Okonkwo needed two seconds to see and react to the presence of the twins in the crosswalk. But nearly seven seconds elapsed between the time the twins entered the crosswalk and the crash, the investigation concluded.
A jury returned a guilty verdict Monday after approximately 10 minutes of deliberation.
At sentencing Thursday, Bellavia requested Okonkwo be sentenced to 2 ? years in a house of corrections, 18 months to be served and the balance suspended for 6 years, a mandatory 15-year loss of license and 100 hours community service.
Defense Attorney Mark Miliotis, several members of Okonkwo’s family and Okonkwo herself urged that no jail time be imposed. About 35 members of Okonkwo’s friends and family attended the sentencing, with three of her six kids joining others to speak on her behalf and apologize to the McManus family.
“I honestly, if I could take back Sept. 18, since that day, I always think what I could have done. The only thing I could have done was not to go to work,” Okonkwo said through tears. It was the first time she spoke during the trial, which began a week earlier. “I was screaming for help, was screaming for somebody to help me ? I was there, praying to God for somebody to be helping.”
Peabody District Court Judge Dominic Paratore sentenced Okonkwo to 18 months in a house of corrections, 9 months to be served and with the balance suspended for 5 years. He also imposed 200 hours of community service and a 15-year loss of license for Okonkwo, who was led out of the courtroom.
Please see the complete story in Saturday’s edition of The Daily Item