The driver of the car which killed Ayesha plead guilty to aggravated DUI causing a death on Aug. 30, 2005 he was sentenced to serve three years in the Illinois State penitentiary
Daily Egyptian Editorial Sept. 2
A Measure of Justice
Nearly two years after Ayesha Judkins was killed, the man charged in connection with her death pled guilty to aggravated driving under the influence and received a sentence of three years. Judkins' mother, Debbie McKenzie, said the outcome would allow her to move on. And so she will. Maybe one day she will even forgive Gustavo Garibay, Jr. for the part he played in her daughter's death. But she will never forget. She will never forget that her daughter, a 20-year-old student of journalism, died a senseless death. She will never forget that her daughter was merely a passenger in a vehicle waiting for a light to change. She will never forget that her daughter, through no fault of her own, was in the wrong place at the wrong time and found herself in the path of a driver who had managed to elevate his blood alcohol level to nearly three times the legal limit. She will never forget hearing the terrible details of the accident ˆ that the car carrying her daughter was struck not once but twice by an SUV and that the driver of the SUV tried to flee the scene. She will never forget that her daughter's friend LaTosha Davis heard Ayesha take her last breath. She will remember these details. She will think of them every day, whether she wants to or not. Maybe she will find something to be thankful for as she remembers. Perhaps she will be thankful that Garibay's SUV hit a utility pole and flipped, ending his flight from responsibility, possibly preventing other deaths. But she will remember. She will remember that justice is measured not by the length of the sentence but by the likelihood that Garibay will remember all of these things too, every day, for the rest of his life.
