Combs on April 18, 2012, made a left turn from Riverside Drive onto Ridge Avenue in front of an oncoming pickup truck, which hit Combs’ vehicle on the rear passenger side.
Derek Whitaker, the son of Combs’ girlfriend, was sitting in the back seat improperly restrained. He was killed in the collision.
Combs did not have a valid driver’s license, according to county Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr.’s office.
Friday, after the hearing, the child’s birth father expressed his anger about the sentencing.
“I’m let down by our justice system,” said the father, whose name also is Derek Whitaker. “If you had took five minutes of your time to make sure my son was in his car seat and didn’t run a red light, my son would be here today.”
The elder Whitaker said all he was waiting to hear in the courtroom was an apology from Combs. He said he never heard one.
“I know he didn’t do it intentionally. It was an accident, obviously,” Whitaker said. He wanted Combs to serve at least a year.
The child’s mother, who is now married to Combs, said he was doing his job as a stepfather, and had just picked up the child when the accident occurred. She said the child’s car seat was in a different vehicle, that her son was buckled in and not in a car seat.
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