Article is courtesy of Hannah Combs at Chesapeake Publishing (Record Observer/Bay Times)

 

CENTREVILLE — Grief and remorse filled the courtroom Friday morning as Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Knight heard testimony from friends and family on both sides of the sentencing hearing of Yassin Alallaq who earlier pleaded guilty to criminally negligent manslaughter.

After careful consideration, Knight sentenced Alallaq to three years, the maximum penalty under law, suspending all but 16 months to be served in the county detention center.

Alallaq, of Arlington, Virginia, was 21 at the time of the fatal accident on Route 301, which claimed the life of Barbara South of Queenstown. The April 3, 2023, accident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. in the area of Rolling Bridge Road. South was enroute to help care for her 2-year-old granddaughter and Alallaq, in his words, was rushing to get to school.

A student at Delaware State University, Alallaq, a resident of the U.S. since 2009, was training as an aviation student with the goal of becoming a military pilot. He was an officer candidate for the U.S. Coast Guard.

According to the investigation reports, South was traveling northbound in a Subaru Outback on Route 301 in the second lane when Alallaq crossed the line separating lane 1 from lane 2 striking the driver side rear of the Outback with his Chevrolet Sonic traveling a recorded speed of approximately 96 mph.

The Outback rolled three times before coming to rest, police reported. South was transported to Shock Trauma Center where she remained in a coma for two weeks before succumbing to her injuries. Alallaq was treated for superficial injuries. No other conditions, including drugs or alcohol contributed to the crash, according to the investigation.

South’s family members spoke at length, sharing how she was “a good person who had a wide circle of family and friends who loved her.” They recalled her as “critical part” of their support system, a woman who was “beautiful inside and out” and who often said, “Be kind to everyone for you never know what they are going through.”

Speaking through tears in a barely controlled voice, South’s son Jonathan repeated how frequently he thinks, “She should be here.”

“There are no words to describe this loss,” said Lance Richardson, state’s attorney for Queen Anne’s County, acknowledging that no sentence would replace the void left in South’s family.

“It is one of the most tragic cases I have seen in 30 years,” he said.

In requesting the sentence, Richardson said, it was not lost on him the adversity the defendant had overcome, nor his character — to which many spoke on his behalf as being concerned, diligent, responsible and displaying a “high level of integrity”.

Richardson requested 18 months of time to be served and 100 hours of community service. He said he took no joy in asking for incarceration but could not ignore the defendant had a history of traffic violations involving speed.

“There is no fair outcome to any involved,” Richardson said, acknowledging the community expects consequences for those who endanger the residents of the county.

Speaking to the court, Alallq professed a “heavy heart, deep remorse … profound sadness and guilt” pledging his commitment to ensure his “actions honor the memory of Mrs. South.” Without the court’s direction, Alallq has booked speaking engagements talking to other youth about the finality of his actions.

Knight said she recognized no actions taken by the court could bring back the victim. However, it was her duty to consider “punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation,” she said. As to rehabilitation, Knight gave credit to the young man for being on that path already and taking initiative on his own.

“Our county roads are very dangerous … speed was in play … cannot overlook the two prior offenses for speeding,” Knight said, “… there has to be a price paid for Mrs. South.”

Knight’s sentencing included 100 hours of community service for Alallq to continue the efforts he had begun and five years supervised probation in which she ordered drug and alcohol testing and mental health evaluation. Knight reasoned although there was no history of substance abuse, individuals in such a situation may be inclined to turn to those as a resource, and she hoped to not see that as an unintended negative consequence.