On Judge Rocanelli’s Sentencing of Gabriel Pardo
On Friday, Judge Andrea Rocanelli sentenced the motorist who killed my son Phillip on September 12, 2014, to serve 8 years in prison.
Gabriel Pardo did not set out with malice to kill anyone while driving home in Hockessin that September evening. But for my son Phillip, and his brother and sisters, and his parents and his friends, absence of malice made no difference. Pardo’s recklessness and negligence, combined with leaving the scene of the crime without trying to help Phillip, was just as bad as if Pardo had acted with malice.
Neither cyclists nor pedestrians have the benefit of being protected by thousands of pounds of engineered steel when they are out traveling on our Delaware roads. So they especially depend on the protection of the police and courts. The case against Pardo was diligently prosecuted by Sean Lugg. And Judge Andrea Rocanelli took seriously her responsibility to provide justice for Phillip and his family.
My family is grateful to the police and the Court. But when police and courts have to get involved after a life is taken, it is already too late. Even more than the protection of the civil authorities, cyclists depend on the heedfulness of drivers. If you are a motorist, please remember every time you sit down in your driver’s seat you are about to operate a piece of potentially deadly heavy equipment. Each time you turn on the ignition, you assume a solemn responsibility to guard the safety of other road users – especially the most vulnerable. Although you don’t know them, the people whose safety you are responsible for are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers and beloved children. Ultimately, even the most diligent police, prosecutors and judges cannot protect cyclists like Phillip. But you can.
Johanna Bishop
10 Responses
a very dignified and effective piece. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, phillip’s mom! as a mom, i know it doesn’t even nick the surface of your many thoughts about this crime and how it has affected your family. i’ll show your piece to my teen drivers.
Sending positive waves….
Well said. Spot on.
Getting hit by an inattentive driver taught me what a potentially lethal weapon an automobile can be and what an impact it can make on your life and the lives of your family and friends.
If you’re driving, take the responsibility seriously. Never trust the other driver(s) to do what you expect.
Tremendously good thoughts are with you and your family.
Thank you for the update. So often, the public doesn’t hear about the outcome. Thoughts & prayers for peace and comfort.
Thank you for pulling all this together. I think often of your son. I did not know him but was deeply touched by his death, the way he died, and the total lack of responsibility on the part of Pardo.
His sentence is bullshit. That’s intoxicated vehicular homicide WITH his kids in the car, AND HIT AND RUN! FUCK HIM! Minimum 30 years. Better yet, hang this ass clown coward bitch in public so people understand what vehicular homicide and hit and run does to a victim’s family and friends.
Amen to your response. It is crazy that hit and run drivers get so little time in prison. When the family and people that lost someone they love has to spend the rest of their lives without the person that is gone due to someone’s neglect of being aware of their surroundings and not thinking about the safety of other living humans. What is 8 years in comparison to the rest of our lives. That’s nothing but a drop in a bucket of time. How could any judge or anyone feel like that is any type of justice for taking a life. Your total right, it’s bullshit.
Usually the driver gets a fine and absurd community service for killing a cyclist. I’m surprised the police didn’t blame the cyclist as they are wont to do; it’s easier on them. . Mostly, it’s just an ‘accident’ even if the vehicle driver is way over the 0.08% impairment scale. Also, kill a cyclist and get off free. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
I am glad that they are least found who killed your son and give them some sort of punishment for the crime. Seems to me that it really is a slap on the wrist for the life of another human doesn’t it?? There are no words that I can say to ease your pain. I do know that the pain never stops, this type of grief does not go away or get easier. That is why I can’t comprehend how anyone can think that giving someone a fine, community service, jail time even prison time for taking the life of someone else is any type of justice. My child was killed by a hit and run driver in New Castle, Delaware in February 2022 walking home from work on highway 273. I am not going to say that I know how you feel because I really don’t know all I know is how I feel. I will say that I do know that this type of pain can be unbearable at times. No matter what type of punishment the person gets for killing someone else it isn’t going to make anything ok because it is already to late the person that you love can’t come back and that’s the thing that needs to be considered when they pass down punishment.