NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) -- Nearly four years after the Fourth of July death of a little girl, a judge hands down his sentence in the case.
"It was like the 4th of July 2011 all over again," said Monica Jones, the grandmother of Asia Williams, referring to the pain and heartbreak of hearing the judge's ruling Thursday morning.
On the night of July 4th, 2011, Asia was hit and killed by a motorcycle while in front of her home with a crowd of other children and adults. Shawn Dejean, Jr., pleaded guilty in the case to a charge of hit and run death. The judge sentenced him to report to jail for weekends only for a year. Dejean also received a five year suspended sentence and five years probation.
"You get sentenced to this little tap on your hand, and we get sentenced to life, life without Asia," the grandmother said.
Asia's family members all wear lockets to carry the three-year-old's ashes with them wherever they go. Her mom, Geron Jones, has a larger urn as well. She says she will sometimes leave the television on Disney programming that she thinks the little girl would like. She says they also celebrate Asia's birthday every year.
"I talk to her like she's still here," Geron Jones says.
But the family never celebrates the Fourth of July anymore.
According to the family, the judge made it clear that he wants Dejean to be able to work during the week to support his own children. But they were stunned to watch the judicial system allow the man to plead guilty and receive fewer days in jail than Asia was alive.
"I wonder if she would want to go to an all girls school. I wonder what she would look like. I wonder how many teeth she might be missing. There are things that I wonder about that he would know about his children," Geron Jones said.
