A traffic judge ordered a fugitive during an online court hearing Thursday to pay a $2,000 fine and perform 75 hours of community service for driving over a bicyclist and dragging her lifeless body into a utility pole. He also urged her to turn herself in to authorities as part of a related criminal case.
"I'm not guilty," said Sohair Mohammed, 42, of Alsip, Illinois, after the judge pronounced her guilty. "I wasn't speeding at all. I wasn't speeding. I swear I wasn't speeding. Why should I kill someone?"
It wasn't clear where Mohammed was during Thursday's Zoom hearing. She appeared to be seated inside someone's kitchen or at a breakfast table. She did not have an attorney at Thursday's hearing. She has been wanted by authorities since March 27, after she missed a mandatory court hearing in a related criminal traffic case connected to the accident. She is accused of driving without a valid license, a misdemeanor. The accident victim's family said she had only an Egyptian driver's license.
"I expect you to turn yourself in," Alachua County Court Judge Jonathan Ramsey said.
As part of the traffic case on Thursday, the judge reviewed a surveillance video from a nearby business showing Mohammed turning left across a Gainesville intersection on Sept. 1 and hitting Loren Elizabeth Cava, 68, of Gainesville, who was riding in the crosswalk with the right of way.
Cava froze as Mohammed's two-ton Jeep Liberty SUV drove toward her then hit her, as it continued into a nearby utility pole, dragging Cava underneath, the video showed. Smoke poured from the SUV's back tires as Mohammed tried to back away quickly.
"The vehicle appears to me to take off like a shot," said Cava's brother, David Cava, during the hearing. "It was moving very quickly. No one would have had a chance to do anything."
Ramsey said authorities did not believe the crash was deliberate. "I don't think anyone is alleging you did this deliberately," he said. Otherwise, he told Mohammed, she would be facing more serious criminal charges.
Ramsey also suspended any valid license Mohammed could obtain for the next two years. He described to the crash victim’s family members the fine and community service hours and acknowledged that it provided them little comfort.
"I know that means nothing," Ramsey said.