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Travis Elwell and the woman he killed, Emily Javadi.
TRAVIS Elwell will never forget the day he took the life of an “extraordinary” woman. A judge’s sentence made certain of that.
Elwell, 23, from Texas, killed Emily Javadi, 34, on February 10, 2015. The driver had a blood-alcohol level of 0.175 at the time, which is more than twice the legal limit.
His BMW skidded into Ms Javadi’s Lexus while she was loading it with items. She died an hour later and Elwell was charged over her death.
The victim’s family said they never wanted to see the driver sentenced to life in prison, and last week a Texas judge agreed.
Instead of sentencing the 23-year-old to a lengthy sentence, he opted to stretch a 120-day sentence over nine years. The driver will serve one week in prison each year for the next nine years on the anniversary of Ms Javadi’s death.
As part of his probation, Elwell will not be allowed to drink alcohol, must attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and speak at drunken driving support groups.
Prosecutors, along with the victims’ parents, decided it would be cruel to take Elwell away from his child. They said they hoped the unusual punishment would encourage him to “turn his life around”.
Emily Javadi was killed by a drink driver who will now spend a week each year in prison.Source:Facebook
Lawyer for the family, Nicole Knox, said the punishment was unique.
“To have that annual reminder and the purpose of the annual reminder, while you’re sitting in solitude incarcerated, I think it’s a really creative way to create more of a deterrent effect,” Knox told local news station WFAA.
Ms Javadi’s father, Michael, told the station the annual reminder was “the only thing that was important to us” and “there needs to be some sort of annountability for the irresponsible actions that he took”.
Friends of Ms Javadi’s told The Dallas Morning News the victim was wonderful, just by being herself.
“She was extraordinary simply by being ordinary, by being just the most extraordinary ordinary person ever,” Mark Landson said.
“She didn’t have special talents, her talent was being nice and being thoughtful. That was her special talent. She touched thousands of people’s lives in that way just by doing that.”
Javadi’s memorial service was attended by more than 1000 people.