Milwaukee man gets 20 years in hit-and-run deaths of sisters

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for a hit-and-run crash that killed two sisters and left their cousin badly injured as they were leaving a playground.

The 2019 accident became a poster child for Milwaukee’s reckless driving problem, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

A’Lisa Z. Gee, 6, Amea N. Gee, 4, and their cousin, Drevyze Rayford, 10, were holding hands as they were struck in the crosswalk.

Initial reports said the driver, Daetwan Robinson, had run a red light. But it was revealed at his sentencing Friday that, in fact, he had a green light, The children had been waved by another driver to cross against the light as that driver waited.

Robinson admitted that he pulled around the stopped car and never saw the kids. But he fled the scene, and tried to paint his car, before witnesses and videos led to his arrest.

Robinson, 21, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of hit and run causing death, and one of hit and run causing serious bodily harm. Judge Janet Protasiewicz sentenced him to consecutive 10-year sentences for the two deaths, and three concurrent years, for the injury.

Robinson apologized to the victims’ families and said he’ll be sorry every day of his life.

The girls’ mother, Destiny Foster, broke down in court.

“They was babies,” she sobbed, “my babies.”