Man gets 42yrs imprisonment for deadly car rampage

amaka inyese

September 26, 2015 4:41 PM

In August 2013, Nathan Louis Campbell, a Colorado man ploughed his car through a crowd of pedestrians along the Venice Beach a major Los Angeles tourist attraction, killing an Italian woman on her honeymoon and injuring 17 other pedestrians.

Nathan Louis Campbell

Campbell was sentenced on Friday, 25 September, 2015 to 42 years imprisonment and despite his conviction in June, by a jury of murder, assault and felony hit-and-run charges. Campbell, insisted up to the moment he was sentenced that the carnage he caused in August 2013 was unintentional.

In his words

"I was responsible for a terrible incident that has caused lasting physical pain and mental anguish for several people, this was not an intentional act. It was a horrible accident due to a combined set of circumstances including my own bad judgment, confusion, panic and fear,” Campbell told the judge.

Campbell’s defence motion that he did everything he could to avoid hitting pedestrians was rejected by the Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathryn Solórzano, saying

"This was not an accident, everything that you did on that date was criminal behaviour. You engaged in behaviour that exhibited rage on that day. The impact has been haunting."

There were security camera footage from the incident aired on national television showing Campbell's car smashing into a crowd of people, before it appeared to back up and then drive into another group of people.

Campbell will serve at least 42 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

Watch camera footage from the incident below.

amaka inyese