WOMAN GETS SIX MONTHS IN CHILD'S DEATH

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A 23-year-old woman was sentenced Tuesday to six months
in jail for causing a car crash that killed a 2-year-old boy in January 2001.

Prosecutors and the boy's family were disappointed that Elaine Nasrawi did
not receive the full one-year sentence recommended by the San Bernardino
County Probation Department.

Nasrawi pleaded guilty in September to one count of felony vehicular
manslaughter and another count of driving under the influence. Sheriff's
detectives said she was high on marijuana when she slammed into the back of
a Honda on Jan. 30, 2001, killing Markies Kinder.

Judge Paul Bryant ignored the Probation Department's recommendation and
sentenced Nasrawi to 180 days in county jail, plus three years' probation.
She was also ordered to pay the family's medical bills and burial costs.

"It was within the judge's discretion to sentence her how he saw fit,"
Deputy Dist. Atty. Courtney Pilchman said. "We were hoping for 365 [days].
We thought that was more than fair."

Markies' mother, Tina Kinder, said in court Tuesday that she felt that a
year in jail was insufficient.

Nasrawi's defense attorney, Todd Rash, said that Markies might not have
died if he had been strapped into a child safety seat. The Sheriff's
Department recommended that charges be filed against both Nasrawi and
Markies' father for failing to secure the boy as required by law.

"I was extremely impressed that the judge based his decision on the facts
of this particular case and didn't get caught up in the emotional aspects,"
Rash said. "When you're dealing with a dead child, you always have to be
concerned about the emotional impact."

Rash said that he was concerned that if the case had gone to trial, he
would not have been able to tell jurors about the missing child safety seat.

Nasrawi pleaded guilty directly to Bryant, and not as part of a plea
agreement with prosecutors.

Nasrawi expressed her sorrow about the crash in court Tuesday.

"She recognized that there's nothing she could ever do that would make it
all right," Rash said. "She felt terrible for the family and wanted them to
know that it has affected her life."

Rash said that Bryant may have taken Nasrawi's lack of a criminal record
and her efforts to get a physical therapy degree into consideration in
giving the lenient sentence.

Nasrawi will surrender to jailers June 20, after she completes her degree.