SANTA ANA, Calif. — In a tragic incident, a 44-year-old woman was killed and her husband and two teenage children were injured when they were struck by a twice-convicted drunken driver at an intersection in Irvine on Wednesday, May 16, 2018.
Kamal Akwette Attoh, 42, of Irvine, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is expected to be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison on April 8. This decision came after he struck a family as they were walking home from a nearby park, resulting in the death of 44-year-old Jeongmi Choi and critical injuries to her husband and two children.
Attoh was charged with murder instead of vehicular manslaughter due to his previous convictions of driving drunk in Orange County in November 2000 and in Ventura County in March 2002. The collision occurred when Attoh’s vehicle careened down an embankment and slammed into a tree after hitting the family on a sidewalk.
The defendant initially claimed he had four beers and was on Xanax, but later confessed to police that he had been drinking vodka and martinis after leaving his girlfriend’s house. Despite the tragic outcome, Attoh opted to accept responsibility for his actions, stating that he did not want to put the family through a trial.
The couple’s 15-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son were also hospitalized following the incident. The 49-year-old husband suffered a ruptured spleen and was in critical condition.
The guilty plea from Attoh brings a sense of closure to the tragic incident which devastated the Choi family. The Irvine community, as well as local authorities, hope that this case will serve as a reminder of the dangers of driving under the influence and the grave consequences it can have.