A Castor Gardens man pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide on Monday for his role in a drag racing-related crash on Roosevelt Boulevard that killed a mother and her three young sons two years ago.
A co-defendant’s murder trial began on Tuesday.
Ahmen Holloman, 32, of the 7000 block of Souder St., was immediately sentenced to serve five to 10 years in state prison as part of a plea negotiation. Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Geroff presided over the hearing.
Holloman didn’t strike any of the four victims, who included Samara Banks, 27, of Feltonville, and her sons Saa’deem Griffin, 4; Saa’sean Williams, 23 months; and Saa’mir Williams, 7 months. All four were walking across the Boulevard near Second Street at about 10:30 p.m. when the accident occurred. A fourth son, Saa’yon Griffin, 5, survived the crash.
During a November 2013 preliminary hearing, witnesses testified that they saw Holloman’s souped-up 1994 Honda Civic engaged in a spontaneous drag race with a 2012 Audi S4 driven by Khusen Akhmedov, 23, of Lancaster. As the cars wove through traffic in the southbound lanes, Akhmedov allegedly pulled ahead of Holloman and struck the mother and children.
Akhmedov, who has relatives in the Northeast and previously worked for a local ambulance company, is being tried on four counts of third-degree murder and related offenses.
He is already serving a two-year federal prison sentence for his role in an unrelated multi-million-dollar Medicare fraud scheme with Huntingdon Valley-based Penn Choice Ambulance. ••
