Background: News footage of Luis Leyba-Gonzalez leaving court (WTHR). Inset: Makayla Hankins (WTHR/Instagram).
An Indiana man involved in a police chase that resulted in a crash killing three people, including two relatives, received a reduced sentence after striking a plea deal.
Initially, Luis Leyba-Gonzalez, 21, faced 12 felony charges related to the deadly collision, which claimed the lives of his brother, 14-year-old Christian Leyba-Gonzalez, his cousin, 32-year-old Jose Gonzalez Jr., and 21-year-old Makayla Hankins from another vehicle. On Oct. 3, he admitted guilt to nine of those charges, among them three counts of resisting law enforcement resulting in death, three counts of reckless homicide, and three counts for causing death with a controlled substance in his system while driving.
Judge Jennifer Prinz Harrison dismissed six charges, as reported by the Indianapolis Star, sentencing Luis Leyba-Gonzalez solely on the three counts of resisting law enforcement resulting in death.
WTHR, a local NBC station, reported that on the evening of Sept. 26, 2023, Luis Leyba-Gonzalez was driving his Dodge Challenger with his cousin and younger brother inside. Shortly before 10 p.m., the police attempted to stop him, prompting a high-speed escape that reached 140 mph.
State troopers are said to have terminated the pursuit, yet moments afterward, Luis Leyba-Gonzalez disregarded a red traffic signal at 100 mph, colliding with Hankins’ vehicle.
Christian Leyba-Gonzalez and Jose Gonzalez Jr. were pronounced dead at the scene, while Hankins, who had recently married, succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.
Luis Leyba-Gonzalez faced nine to 48 years behind bars for the crimes to which he pleaded guilty. Prosecutors asked for 25 years in prison. The defense asked for a maximum of three years. In the end, the judge sentenced Luis Leyba-Gonzalez to nine years, only two of which are to be spent behind bars.
Hankins’ grandmother, who adopted Makayla after her mother’s death, told WTHR, “My first words were, ‘Is that all he got for killing three people?'” She added, “That’s not justice. That’s not justice at all. That’s a slap on the hand.”
Local Fox affiliate WXIN reported that the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police called the sentence a “miscarriage of justice.” In a lengthy statement condemning the judge’s leniency, including at the beginning of the case when Harrison set Luis Leyba-Gonzalez’s cash bond at $1,000, the organization said, “Time and again, police leaders have raised red flags about their concerns with the disproportionate incidents of low bonds, lenient sentences, and lackluster performance within the Marion County Criminal Justice System.”
The statement added, “Cops are calling for backup for victims and their families. There must be equal protection under the law for the accused and the accosted.”
