A driver who killed a 16-year-old boy crossing the street in East Long Beach was sentenced Friday to 180 days in county jail and two years probation as part of a plea deal with prosecutors — something the victim’s parents have vocally opposed, saying it’s too lenient.
As part of his sentence, Lakewood resident Kevin Chris Dahl will also have to perform 30 days of community service and take a driving safety course. After a year of completing his probation, he can then petition to reduce his conviction to a misdemeanor.
The deal required Dahl to plead no contest last month to one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for crashing into and killing 16-year-old Aiden Gossage, who was crossing the street at Los Coyotes Diagonal and Deborah Street on Sept. 4, 2021.
At Dahl’s sentencing Friday, Compton Superior Court Judge Sean Coen asked prosecutors to justify their decision to offer a plea deal after what the judge had read in police reports from that night and having heard people talk about Dahl appearing impaired at the time of the crash.
Deputy District Attorney Samantha Borghi explained that it was her office’s ethical duty to follow the law and that while the evidence showed Dahl was driving 10 to 20 miles over the speed limit when he crashed into Gossage, there was no outright evidence to prove he was also impaired.
Coen didn’t disagree with the decision and called the case an “absolute tragedy.”
Before Coen handed down a sentence, he emphasized that he’d taken into consideration victim impact statements that were read last month, along with a letter from Gossage’s parents calling for him to override the deal to impose a harsher sentence. Coen did add the extra condition of having Dahl take a driving safety course.
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Coen added that while he had no control of the attorney’s negotiated disposition, he did have the power to sentence Dahl to a harsher penalty, including a maximum sentence of six years, if he fails to meet the terms of his probation.
“I want the probation … for a lack of a better term, to have teeth,” Coen said, adding that he doesn’t want anyone to have a “lack of fear” of being punished for their crimes.
After Coen read his rights, Dahl was led out of the courtroom and into police custody.
Following Dahl’s sentencing, Lily Gossage, Aiden’s mother, expressed her disappointment with the prosecutors’ decision to offer Dahl a plea deal that included only about six months in custody instead of allowing the case to go to trial, where he could have gotten up to six years in prison if he were convicted.
“They did have sufficient evidence, otherwise they would’ve dismissed the case,” she said. “This sends such a horrible message that if your child is walking in a crosswalk legally … you would only get six months.”
Greg Gossage, Aiden’s father, said he felt like justice was served but he still feels a sense of hopelessness.
“This is a case that can’t be fixed. If it was a theft or burglary, robbery — no one died — you can fix that eventually,” Greg Gossage said. “You can’t bring the dead back.”
“If I could have my son back, I’d forget all about this.”