There will never be enough tears to bring back 16-year old Cameron Mayhew, who was crossing the street to get to his school bus when a driver ignored the stop sign, struck and killed him.
Police issued 23 year old Zackery Treinen a citation. He pleaded "no contest" in court and a judge punished him with a $1,000 fine and suspended his license for 6 months.
People on social media are calling it a criminal act and saying a citation isn't enough. Four In Your Corner spoke with a criminal defense attorney, not affiliated with the case, to answer the question flooding Facebook: Why wasn't the driver charged with manslaughter?
"The police did not have enough probable cause to arrest the individual for manslaughter," Criminal defense attorney Abizer Ghadiali said. "They made a determination that this was a mistake. There was a traffic violation that occurred and cited him accordingly."
While the traffic violation was cited accordingly to the law, many people are saying a citation isn't enough. Ghadiali says the driver's mistake of driving past the stop sign lead to the 16 year old's death, but it was determined there wasn't criminal intent on the driver's part.
"This guy I'm sure feels awful and he has to live with the fact he took somebody's life," he said "But ultimately, not everything is criminal. Bad things happen that weren't meant to happen but it doesn't make it a criminal act.
