SEATTLE — Ten months after tragedy for Eileen Taylor, she virtually joined the sentencing hearing for Adam Abelson, the man who pleaded guilty for causing a deadly crash in Seattle.
"My days are painted with horrible sadness,” Taylor said.
A police investigation found that Abelson is the man who caused the crash that killed her daughter, Amanda Schneider.
Prosecutors say on a November day in 2023 in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, Abelson was traveling at highway speeds when he collided with a King County Metro bus. The bus hit and killed Amanda ,who was on the sidewalk.
Multiple cameras captured the chaos that followed. Eleven of the 14 bus passengers were hurt. Abelson was arrested. Tests found he was under the influence of drugs.
"The only true way you can take accountability for that is to not put yourself in that position again. No other mother should have to sit here and mourn the loss of her only beautiful daughter,” said Taylor.
"Her presence in my life was immeasurable. Now there is a hole that can't be filled,” said Amanda’s father, Karl Schneider.
Both parents addressed the court, and so did Abelson's attorney, James Carr, who recounted his client's past.
"He watched both his mother, and his father die in front of him from overdose,” said Carr, who added that Abelson was regularly abusing drugs.
"I take full responsibility for all of the harm and the hurt - the pain that I have caused. I think about it every day,” Abelson told the court.
"The court will be departing from the parties recommended sentence,” said Judge Marshall Ferguson.
Instead of the 13 years recommended in the plea deal, Abelson received a 15-year sentence for the crash that claimed Amanda's life. A defendant’s criminal history is a factor in the sentencing range. In Abelson’s case, over the years, he’s had more than 50 warrants for his arrest.