Driver's Plea Deal In 2 Kids' Deaths Will Allow Her To Serve Much Less Jail Time

RIVERDALE, MD — A woman driving a van who fatally hit two children outside their elementary school has agreed to a plea deal and could serve considerably less time in jail, officials say.

Sky Sosa, 5, and Shalom Mbah, 10, were walking to school in a crosswalk outside Riverdale Elementary School when they were hit and killed in November 2023. The two kids were accompanied by Sky’s father, Franklin Sosa, at the time of the incident. He also was hit but his injuries weren't life-threatening, Patch reported previously.

Olga Lugo Jiminez, 52, was behind the wheel of the van, police say. She originally was indicted on multiple charges, including two counts of criminally negligent manslaughter, which would have carried a total of six years in prison.

But Lugo Jiminez instead pleaded guilty to lesser offenses April 14 at a court hearing — two counts of driving a vehicle into a crosswalk and contributing to an accident. Now instead of six years, she faces four months of jail time, according to the state's attorney.

“The statute under which Lugo Jiminez pled guilty was designed to punish the specific wrongful conduct of causing harm by entering a crosswalk. In this case, the harm was devastating, and our office determined that punishment was warranted — even absent of evidence of any other criminally negligent conduct, such as speeding, intoxication or traffic signal violations," Prince George's County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in a statement.

A judge will decide at Lugo Jiminez's sentencing in July just how long of a jail sentence she will serve.

The Mbah family told the Washington Post the plea deal sends the message that negligent driving is not taken seriously, even when children die. Lugo Jiminez was driving for a private van service and had just dropped kids off at the school, investigators have said. She was turning to leave when she hit the children.

After the incident, Jiminez told people she accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake, although that was not confirmed by police officials, according to WJLA.

In December 2024, the parents of the two young children filed a lawsuit against Prince George’s County police, the county government and the Prince George’s County Board of Education. The 22-page suit seeks up to $58 million in punitive and compensatory damages. The suit was filed on behalf of Sky Sosa’s mother, Laura Palacios, against Prince George’s County Fire & EMS, the Prince George’s County Board of Education and two private individuals, including the driver of the van. It cites “systemic failures” as a contributor to Sosa’s death. Last month, the family of Shalom Mbah, the 10-year-old girl killed in the crash, also filed suit against Prince George’s County, Patch previously reported.

The lawsuit blames the county for not having a crossing guard posted at the crossing at the time and for what they claim was a slow response by the fire department. The suit accuses the county itself of failures in emergency response procedures and traffic safety, claiming it took the Prince George’s County Fire and Medical Services Department roughly half an hour to arrive on the scene, according to WTOP.