Before being sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for driving so recklessly that he killed a 40-year-old Centreville man, Quentin J. Jones stood up in court and apologized.
Crying, he said, "I'm not a monster and I'm not a killer. I'm tormented every day that I took someone's life."
But Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Adriana Eberle hoped Jones' emotional words would not sway Circuit Court Judge Kathleen MacKay when she imposed his sentence for aggravated involuntary manslaughter. And she definitely doubted his sincerity.
"I ask you to impose the sentence the jury recommended [after Jones' September trial] — 36 years," said Eberle. "Now, the defendant says he's sorry for what he did. Back in September, he lied to the jury — he lied to the court. He got on the stand and made up a story [about what happened]."
In the end, although MacKay did not impose the full 36 years, she did send Jones away for a quarter century. "I don't believe you're a monster, but the results of your behavior were monstrous — the death of a completely innocent person," she told him. "You're going to have to take responsibility for that, and I'm going to put you in the penitentiary until you're not a danger to society anymore."
THE TRAGEDY occurred Nov. 22, 2003 to Soo Chang Yang, a grocery-store clerk, husband and father of two. He lived in Centreville's Belle Pond Farm community and was driving through an intersection with a green light, on his way home from work, when Jones slammed into him.
Yet when Jones was on trial for his death, he said it wasn't him who'd crashed a car into Yang's vehicle and killed him. He claimed he was in the back seat and hadn't been driving — even though, seconds after the crash, an officer found him behind the wheel. Even his attorney, Garland Stith, denied his client was driving.
But at Jones' sentencing, Stith, too, changed his tune. He said Jones didn't intend to kill anyone, but "was under the control of alcohol. At the time [of the crash], he was pressing on the brake, trying not to hit [Yang's car]."
During Jones' three-day trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court for aggravated involuntary manslaughter plus three related charges, law-enforcement officers and other witnesses to his egregious driving behavior, that night, testified.
Virginia State Trooper Joshua Korson said he'd tried to pull over a speeding motorist in a turquoise 1993 Dodge Shadow. While doing radar checks around 9 p.m., he clocked Jones at 82 mph at the I-66 east intersection with the Fairfax County Parkway crossover. Korson pursued him with blue lights flashing and siren screaming.
"[Jones] crossed all lanes of traffic and got off at Route 50 east," he said. "He went through stopped traffic at Waples Mill [Road] and through a red light without hitting his brakes. He went around stopped traffic, and I radioed [local] police that I was in pursuit of a vehicle. Then he went through a red light at Jermantown [Road]."
At the Routes 50/29 north intersection, Korson said Jones took Route 29 north and passed stopped traffic on the shoulder of the road, going through a red light at Route 29, "doing speeds in excess of 90 mph." He said Jones went through several more red lights and, in Fairfax City, "made an unsafe lane change" and struck a minivan driven by a woman, but didn't stop.
"HE LEFT the scene of the accident and kept going on 29 north," said Korson. "At Fairfax Circle, he went through a red light. Then on Route 50 east — Arlington Boulevard — he ran through more red lights and made unsafe lane changes."
At Allen Street in Falls Church, the Dodge ran one more red light — and smack into Yang. Said Korson: "A black Lexus came through the intersection with the green light for Allen Street, and [Jones] struck it broadside." Driving the 2000 Lexus was Yang — later pronounced dead at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Korson said he found Jones behind the wheel of the Dodge, trying to flee the vehicle. "I detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage, and he had bloodshot eyes," said the trooper.
Police charged Jones with aggravated involuntary manslaughter, felony hit and run, speeding to elude and DUI. (His blood-alcohol content was .16 — twice the legal limit). Authorities also served him with outstanding warrants for domestic assault and unlawful entry.
On Sept. 29, the jury found him guilty on all counts, and he returned Friday for sentencing. His mother, Mary Jones Owens, said he'd needed a "positive, male role model and mental-health counseling. Because it was difficult for him to respond to guidance and correction, he was difficult to control."
She said he'd tried to medicate his depression with things leading to substance-abuse. And, she added, "From the time he was 13, he spent most of his time in incarceration because he'd gotten into legal trouble as a juvenile."
The Rev. Terry Millender, who's known Jones for 12 years, called him "a man of unused, untapped potential." He said the birth of Jones' daughter impacted him the most, "but whenever he got back to drinking, that went out the window."
EBERLE SAID it was lucky he only took one man's life, that night. "His driving behavior was unbelievably horrible — extreme reckless driving over 90 mph and blowing red lights," she said. "He [struck] a vehicle and, finally, he killed someone. Everyone who saw the car coming testified that they braced themselves because they knew something bad was going to happen."
Noting Jones' drug and alcohol problems, Eberle said he was sentenced to a hospital in Florida for mental-health treatment and to the Sunrise and Crossroads treatment programs here — neither of which he completed. "He's had many opportunities to get help, but hasn't," she said. "It's only now that [he's facing] 36 years in prison that he feels remorseful."
Eberle said he was convicted of burglary in 1998 and of assaulting the mother of his child in 2003. "This is somebody who has a long and violent criminal history," she said. "The jury heard all the testimony and evidence and recommended the maximum sentence."
She then related how Yang's senseless and tragic death has affected his family. She said his wife doesn't speak English and now has to fend for herself and the children, on her own. Her son, 3, is in daycare while she works.
"Her daughter, 7, does not speak to adults since her father passed away," said Eberle. "Her teacher says she doesn't respond or express her feelings. We have no idea the [full] impact it will have on her. [Yang's family members] are going to suffer for the rest of their lives."
JONES SAID he started drinking because his grandfather had died, two months earlier, and he was sad. "I would like to apologize to [Yang's] children," he said. "I know what it's like to grow up without a father. I accept responsibility for my actions. I'm sorry for being dishonest at my trial, but I was scared. I had a bench warrant for a misdemeanor, and I didn't want to go to jail."
But Judge MacKay had the last word. "The jury convicted you of aggravated involuntary manslaughter because [it] believed your conduct was so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life," she said. "You said you accept responsibility, but your actions were completely irresponsible."
She then sentenced Jones to 20 years in prison for aggravated involuntary manslaughter and five years for speeding to elude and ran these sentences consecutively.
He received 10 years for the hit and run and a year for DUI, run concurrently with the other sentences, plus three years post-release supervision. Said MacKay: "You've got no choice at this point, sir, but to stand up and be a man."