Grad Student Behind Wheel During Crash That Killed Journalist Halberstam Sentenced
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A graduate student charged in the car crash that killed Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist David Halberstam was sentenced yesterday to five days in jail, but a judge recommended he serve the time on a supervised work program.
Kevin Jones, 27, pleaded no contest last fall to a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter stemming from the April 23 crash.
The University of California Berkeley journalism student was driving Halberstam to an interview with football legend Y.A. Tittle when the crash happened in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco. Prosecutors and witnesses have said Mr. Jones ran a red light while making an illegal left turn. At the sentencing hearing in San Mateo County Court, Mr. Jones nervously read a statement expressing his remorse and said he would dedicate his career to upholding Halberstam’s ideals.
“I am sorry for the Halberstam family’s loss and I will never forget the pain they experienced,” he said. He called the accident “the single worst moment of my life, one that I will never recover from.”
