A California judge scolded a 20-year-old defendant for his lack of remorse after he ran over a 12-year-old swimmer, killing her while speeding on a jet ski in July 2023.
Arsanyous Refat Ghaly, 20, pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the death of Savannah Peterson.
On Friday, he showed up 45 minutes late to his sentencing, claiming he was “too worried and anxious to come in.”
“I wanted to give my condolences before [to the victim’s family], but I didn’t know how or when it was appropriate. I never meant for any of this to happen,” Ghaly said through tears.
But Superior Court Judge Polly Shamoon told Ghaly that he was “not taking this seriously.”
“The first words out of your mouth to probation during that interview should have been, ‘I’m so sorry for what I did, I have such regrets about the decisions I’ve made that day, and they will forever haunt me. And I will do better,” the judge said referring to an interview Ghaly had with a probation officer.
“Instead, they were, ‘Do you think the judge is going to suspend my driver’s license? That was your concern.”
