November 18, 2014

The family of the victim may be resigned to this outcome, but I'm not. I've been that person who's trying to figure out a screwy GPS, and I don't think anyone should get to shoot me in head because I pulled into their driveway by mistake:

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA-- A Gwinnett County man accepted a plea deal Monday for the fatal shooting of a man, who mistakenly pulled into the wrong driveway.

Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh was in the courtroom as Philip Sailors plead to the misdemeanor charge for the January 2013 shooting in Lilburn.

Channel 2 Action News broke the news Friday about the plea deal which reduced a murder charge to the misdemeanor charge of involuntary manslaughter and spared the homeowner any jail time.

People Kavanaugh spoke with were surprised that Sailors made no statement and offered no apology to the victim's family during the hearing.

Rodrigo Diaz, the victim’s father, told Kavanaugh in Spanish he wasn’t expecting anything today.

Investigators say GPS misguided Rodrigo Diaz to the wrong house that night. Diaz was trying to get to the home across the street so he could pick up a friend to go roller-skating. When Sailors saw the strange car, he came out shooting. He fired once into the air.

Investigators say the second shot went through the window and struck Diaz in the head.
With his guilty plea Sailors will serve 12-months’ probation and pay a $500 fine.

[...] After the hearing, Diaz’s father, Rodrigo Diaz Senior. told Kavanaugh that Sailors could have received a stronger punishment, but he believed that would only end up destroying two families.

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