A 24-year-old man who plowed into a young mother and her three sons while street racing on Roosevelt Boulevard in summer 2013, killing all four of them, will spend 17 to 34 years in prison, a Philadelphia judge ruled Monday.
Khusen Akhmedov, of Lancaster, was found guilty in a non-jury trial of third-degree murder in July. He was accused of street racing 32-year-old Ahmen Holloman on Roosevelt Boulevard near 2nd Street, in Olney, as Banks and her four boys were crossing the road that fateful July 2013 night. Akhmedov's Audi plowed into the family, killing Banks and three of her sons, ages 4, 1 and 7 months. Her 5-year-old son survived.
Police at the time said Banks was thrown some 200 feet from where the car struck her.
Michael Diamondstein, Akhmedov's attorney, argued that the evidence didn't show the malice necessary to support a third-degree murder conviction. But Judge Steven R. Geroff disagreed, finding the young man guilty. Akhmedov will spend 17 to 34 years in prison for the deadly crash.
Holloman, the other street racer involved that night, pleaded guilty in July to vehicular homicide and was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison.
A traffic light has since been installed at the crosswalk where Banks and her sons were crossing that night -- which did not have a stoplight before. The crossing was named Banks Way after the crash.
