PORTLAND, Ore. — The driver of a car that crashed during an illegal street race in August 2022, hitting and killing a woman while she waited at a bus stop in Southeast Portland, was sentenced to 36 months in prison on Friday.
Jonathan Peña was charged with second-degree manslaughter in August 2023, although the charge was later adjusted to criminally negligent homicide. He changed his plea to guilty, and additional charges of recklessly endangering another person and reckless driving were added on Friday. Because of time already served, he'll serve 36 months with three years post-release supervision and five years' probation. He must also pay restitution.
On Aug. 27, 2022, Ashlee McGill was waiting at a bus stop at Southeast Stark Street and 133rd Avenue when street-racing drivers, racing side-by-side down Stark Street at speeds faster than 80 miles per hour, lost control. The cars collided and one of them went off the roadway, striking and killing McGill. She was 26 years old when she died.
Police said McGill was a bystander who had nothing to do with the race. Family members remembered McGill as a young mother who was always up for adventure and always had a smile on her face.
Misty Nicholson, McGill's mother, was in the courtroom Friday. She read a statement and addressed Peña, saying, "I do hope for the rest of your life, every time you close my eyes you see my daughter and remember what you did to her."
She told KGW that her daughter was a good kid and had loved her life.
"She had a son that she loved and she lived for. She had a contagious laugh and a smile that would light up a room," Nicholson said.
Peña read a statement in court and said he hopes McGill's family can one day forgive him.
"I feel like I owe it to you, to your family to endure every trial and tribulation that comes with this to ensure that you as a family feel that justice for Ashlee is served," he said.
In September 2023, one of the drivers of one of the other cars involved in the crash, Kenneth Joseph Freeman, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to 60 months, or five years in prison, with time served. The third driver has not been identified.