Furious mother unleashes Australia’s justice system after driver who mowed down her daughter escapes conviction: ‘He got away with killing my child’
- Alannah Sobolewski, 5, died after being hit by a car
- She was with Mom, Taylor Maddock, at a crosswalk
- Ms Maddock opened up about the crash and the legal outcome
A tearful mother has spoken out about the moment her daughter was fatally hit at a pedestrian crossing, sharing her anger that the driver escaped conviction.
Taylor Maddock, 27, and her daughter Alannah Sobolewski, 5, were hit by a Toyota Tarago at the marked intersection in Plumpton, Sydney’s northwest at 7:15pm on March 17, 2021.
They had just gotten dinner, a Domino’s pizza, and were taking a short walk home to eat.
But disaster struck when they stopped at the intersection on Rooty Hill Road North and got out.
‘I was still holding her hand, across the crosswalk, and she looked and went ‘Mom!’ and I turned around, and it was just bang!’ Mrs. Maddock remembered holding back her tears A current situation.
Taylor Maddock has opened up about when her daughter Alannah Sobolewski, 5, was fatally hit in a crosswalk more than two years ago
Ms Maddock (pictured) also shared her anger that the driver, Abel Lopez, escaped conviction.
Mrs. Maddock remembers hitting the Tarago’s windshield and rolling up.
She suffered a broken leg and spine, a crushed pelvis, and a brain injury.
She needed seven surgeries and had to learn to walk again.
Alannah was rushed to Westmead Hospital but died later that night.
Her aunt, Brooke Maddock, said, “Lana was the world to her mother.”
The “sweet, innocent” girl had just turned five a month earlier and recently got her first pet, a rabbit named Sprinkles.
She was in the first grade of primary school and wanted to become a zookeeper when she grew up.
The driver, Abel Elias Lopez, 63, was charged with criminal charges in March 2023 by Parramatta District Court.
He faced two charges of dangerous driving, resulting in death and grievous bodily harm.
He was found not guilty of the dangerous driving charge by a panel of jurors on March 10.
But the judge also dismissed a charge of negligence.
Ms Maddock angrily described the outcome as ‘wrong’ and ‘unjust’.
“He took my life by taking my daughters. He got away with killing my child. I don’t understand how that’s fair.’
Mrs. Maddock suffered a broken leg and spine, a crushed pelvis and a brain injury. She needed seven surgeries and had to learn to walk again
Alannah, 5, was rushed to Westmead Hospital after the crash but died later that night
She claimed he got off “scot free.”
Mr. Lopez said he slowed down for the crossing and did not see the mother or child because of the dim light, the clothes they were wearing and the glare from oncoming traffic.
During the trial before Judge Andrew Colefax, the jurors also learned that the floodlights over the pedestrian crossing were not working.
Prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that Mr. Lopez had been misguided and approached the crossing at the speed limit of 60 km/h.