A Lancaster man with a long history of risky driving opted not to plead guilty to killing a mother and her three sons in a gruesome racing-related crash on Roosevelt Boulevard in 2013.
Instead, Khusen Akhmedov took his chances with a trial. That didn’t work out too well for him, either. On Monday, Common Pleas Court Judge Steven R. Geroff convicted Akhmedov, 24, of third-degree murder for the deaths of Samara Banks and sons Saa’deem, 4; Saa’sean, 23 months; and Saa’mir, 7 months.
Akhmedov, an EMT who lived part-time in the Northeast, engaged in an impromptu Fast and the Furious-style race with another motorist on July 16, 2013, in the inner southbound lanes of the Boulevard approaching Second Street. Witnesses testified that the competitors raced at excessive speeds while weaving across lanes of traffic on the busy thoroughfare.
Banks, the three boys, another son and her younger sister were walking across the Boulevard near Second Street when Akhmedov plowed into their group. The other motorist, Ahmen Holloman, had slowed and was trailing Akhmedov. Holloman, a Castor Gardens resident, pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide on July 6 and was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison.
Akhmedov faces a possible 20 to 40 years in prison on each murder conviction, as well as additional time for vehicular homicide and manslaughter convictions. Sentencing will be on Oct. 1. ••
