The young mother and her two small sons died at the scene of the accident: after an accident with three deaths in Esslingen Stuttgart The driver of the vehicle involved in the accident was sentenced to one year and ten months in prison on probation. The Esslingen district court found the 55-year-old guilty of negligent homicide in three cases.
If the man adheres to the terms of his probation, he will not have to go to prison. However, the man must give up his driver’s license for at least three years. The judgment is not final.
In its indictment, the public prosecutor accused the man of confusing the accelerator pedal with the brake pedal when approaching a red light in Esslingen at the end of October 2024 and then steering his vehicle onto the sidewalk at almost 100 kilometers per hour. There the vehicle hit a 39-year-old woman and her two three- and six-year-old sons. All three died at the scene of the accident. The driver of another car was slightly injured.
Relatives had called for a prison sentence without parole
The driver of the accident apologized to the victims’ relatives on the first day of the trial. What happened destroyed lives in an unimaginable way and plunged families into deep grief, the 55-year-old said through his defense attorney. He was deeply sorry for what happened and its terrible consequences. “I realize that nothing I say can alleviate the loss.” Otherwise, the defendant did not comment on the matter or the person, said a court spokesman.
In their plea, the public prosecutor’s office had called for a suspended prison sentence of two years. The man’s defense attorney had demanded an acquittal. The relatives of the victims, who appeared as co-plaintiffs in the proceedings, had called for a prison sentence of at least three years without parole through their lawyers. They also wanted to convince relatives that the man had to give up his driver’s license for a long time or even for life.
The case caused horror nationwide and sparked great sympathy in the city near Stuttgart. A week after the accident, hundreds of mourners took part in a funeral march. They walked from a church to the scene of the accident and left candles, flowers and teddy bears for the victims.
