‘No winners in this situation,' judge says to man sentenced in fatal hit-and-run of child

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A man who pleaded guilty in a hit-and-run crash that killed a child in 2015 was sentenced to seven years in prison on two charges with a minimum mandatory sentence of four years.

Lastevie Howard, 41, waited for his chance to speak in court Thursday as he listened to Aubrey Clark’s family, friends, and witnesses talk about the incident that killed the 10-year-old girl in Ocoee in January 2015.

“Never in my worst nightmare did I imagine I’d be sitting here making a victim impact statement on behalf of my daughter, and that her life was taken to tragically,” said Clark’s stepmother, Karen Buron Jenkins.

Howard testified that he had just picked up his children from school when he hit Clark and her young friend while pulling out of a Walgreens parking lot near the intersection of Silver Star and Clark roads.

He told investigators the children came out of nowhere.

“I look like this, and by the time I can look to catch the break in traffic, I hit the gas, come out, and boom, they hit the side of the car right in the front," Howard said.

Clark’s friend suffered minor injuries. He was too emotional to speak during the sentencing Thursday, so his statement was read for him.

“The most painful thing it to see my best friend die. I can’t imagine how her family felt after Aubrey passed away,” the statement said.

Howard, who changed hit not guilty plea to guilty on two of four charges, also took the stand.

He denied leaving Clark at the scene and told her family he’s been waiting for this day to apologize.

“My heart goes out to you. Never would I be such a villain as the media has painted, but I am a remorseful man,” he said. “I pray for your family every night.”

Witnesses to the incident told investigators that Howard had been driving erratically.

“When the vehicle came out (of the Walgreens parking lot), I said to my sister, ‘Oh my God, this car is going to hit me,’” one witness said. “Before I could get that sentence out of my mouth, she had said, ‘The car has hit the children.’ When I looked into my mirror, I could see the children in the street. Everything had stopped and I could see the children lying in the street.”

Cox Media Group