A Long Beach mother is calling for a judge to reject the terms of a plea deal that would see her son’s killer spend a maximum of six months in jail.
Kevin Chris Dahl crashed into and killed 16-year-old Aiden Gossage, who was crossing the street at Los Coyotes Diagonal and Deborah Street on Sept. 4, 2021.
Despite objections from Aiden Gossage’s parents, prosecutors earlier this month offered Dahl a plea agreement where he would admit to the crime of vehicular manslaughter in exchange for a six-month sentence, 30 days of community service and two years of formal probation, after which he’ll have the opportunity to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor.
Dahl accepted the deal in court on Jan. 23, but he has not yet been officially sentenced, something a judge is scheduled to do on Feb. 16.
Now, Aiden Gossage’s mother, Lily Gossage, has started an online petition asking for the judge in charge of the sentencing next month to override the plea deal. It has since amassed just under 2,000 signatures in two days.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office declined to answer questions about the plea deal.
In the petition, Lily Gossage says the deal offered by prosecutors is too lenient given there was evidence Dahl was — at a minimum — driving negligently before the crash. Additionally, if Dahl had gone to trial and been convicted, he would have been sentenced to a minimum of two years of incarceration under California law.
Instead of the proposed deal, Lily Gossage says, Dahl should be sentenced to at least one year in county jail, with at least nine months served before being considered for release, one year of community service, and a professional driving course over a two-year probationary period.
Greg Gossage, Aiden’s father, shared the same sentiment while addressing the court during the Jan. 23 hearing. He said that after his son was killed, he spent hours at a time for weeks analyzing every bit of data he could find about the crash. Greg Gossage has worked in the Long Beach Police Department crime lab for 25 years and analyzed evidence in many fatal crashes.
He said he understood that while Dahl may not have purposely hit his 16-year-old son in the crosswalk, there was no reason he couldn’t have seen him crossing that night unless he was not paying attention to the road.
Police originally accused Dahl of being under the influence during the crash, but after Dahl refused to complete DUI testing at the scene, police drew his blood, which did not prove he was intoxicated, according to a detective’s testimony.
Prosecutors, however, alleged Dahl was grossly negligent because he was speeding and not paying attention when he crashed into Aiden Gossage, who was crossing Los Coyotes Diagonal and Deborah Street around 9 p.m.
Dahl’s attorney, Bryan Schroeder, who previously called for the case to be dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor, rejected the idea that his client did anything that could be categorized as “gross negligence.” He said Dahl was driving through a dangerous intersection that had a bend in the road leading up to the crosswalk, which can obscure a driver’s view.
That, along with Aiden Gossage not pressing the button to turn on the crosswalk’s LED lights, prevented Dahl from seeing the 16-year-old until he could no longer avoid him, Schroeder argued.
The Gossages have said they want the court to be fair to Dahl but they hope he can use this moment to change his life for the better.
“I don’t think it’s a very fitting end to my son’s life, but it gives me some solace to think that my son gave his life so that Mr. Dahl can learn to be a better driver,” Greg Gossage said in court.
Lily Gossage said she plans to present the petition to the judge before Dahl’s sentencing in Compton Court.