Syracuse, NY -- Syracuse driver Kedarriel Lavender is headed to prison after fleeing the scene of a crash that killed dirt-biker Michael Hathorn Jr. in October 2021.
Lavender’s prosecution took a violent turn in July when he was knocked unconscious by the victim’s brother during a routine court appearance.
Thursday’s sentencing, while emotional, remained calm throughout. Lavender turned to the family and offered an apology for his “panic” that led him to flee the fatal 3 a.m. crash Oct. 3, 2021 on East Colvin Street.
Despite the courtroom attack, Lavender told the family he held “no malice in my heart” toward them.
Earlier in Thursday’s sentencing, the victim’s son, Michael Hathorn III, 12, sat silently at the prosecution table, holding a picture of his slain father, as the lawyers argued over the appropriate sentence for Lavender.
His sister, Juliana, 16, spoke of the family’s pain: “My youngest brother never met his father. And my brothers and I will have to grow up without a father.”
The victim’s sister, Noelle, expressed frustration with the short prison sentence, saying the system “failed us all.”
But Lavender’s lawyers noted that he was not charged with a homicide in Hathorn’s death. Instead, he had been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal crash. Help had arrived within minutes anyway. And the victim was riding in the dark without proper lights and no helmet.
Those were all factors that weighed into the appropriate punishment, defense lawyers Chuck Keller and Eileen Walsh argued.
For his part, Lavender noted he has children of his own. And he said he couldn’t fathom what his victim’s family was going through.
His lawyers asked the judge to spare him prison and give him probation. Prosecutor Frank Pelosi, who had objected to the plea deal to begin with, asked for 2 to 6 years in prison.
Miller, the judge, noted the inadequacy of any sentence in such a case: Lavender is already remorseful and nothing would bring back the Hathorns’ loved one.
“My sentence isn’t going to change anything, one way or the other,” Miller said.
He noted that he’d promised Lavender a sentence of “no worse than 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.” In the end, the judge decided that sentence -- 1 1/3 to 4 years -- was appropriate.
Under law, that means that Lavender will get his first parole board in 1 1/3 years, but could spend a maximum of four years in prison.
Lavender nodded as he was led away in handcuffs to calls of encouragement from his own loved ones in court.
Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 470-6070.
Ad Choices