‘Handsome’ Cameron Herrin’s sentencing leaves millions of people divided
Tampa: Cameron Herrin, a 21-year-old man, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in April for killing an Ohio mother and her young daughter in a 2018 traffic crash.
Herrin’s family has challenged the verdict and is waiting to hear from the court.
Related story: Thousands sign online petition supporting Cameron Herrin
The sentencing has divided the internet, with a large number of people praising the judge for punishing Cameron for his crime while others opposed the verdict, saying ‘the young man deserves a second chance”.
Cameron Herrin became hashtag trend on Twitter in Pakistan on July 10 when male and female teenagers argued over the sentencing of the young American.
Multiple male users accused Pakistani girls of defending Cameron Herrin for his good looks while ignoring the pain he had inflicted upon his victims. Some female users rejected the claims and said Herrin was too young to be handed down such a “harsh” punishment,
Cameron Herrin case was also discussed on social media websites in several other countries, with some people expressing the hope that the US courts will review their verdict which they found too harsh for a young man.
In April, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Nash heard hours of testimony before announcing his decision to send Cameron Herrin to prison.
Herrin hit Jessica Reisinger-Raubenolt and her 1-year-old daughter Lillia with the Mustang he’d received for his high school graduation two days earlier. They were visiting Tampa from Jeromesville, Ohio.
He was heading to a gym on the morning of May 23, 2018. Witnesses later told investigators that Herrin and his friend John Barrineau, who was driving a Nissan, appeared to be racing on Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard. Police said Reisinger-Raubenolt, 24, was pushing her daughter in a stroller when Herrin’s car hit them.
Herrin’s family members began to weep as sheriff’s deputies placed him in handcuffs after the hearing.
Prosecutors presented evidence that the Mustang topped 100 mph (160 kph) moments before the crash, rapidly decelerating to 30 and 40 mph (48 and 64 kph) at the time of impact.
David Raubenolt spoke for nearly an hour, telling the court that his wife loved children and was a parent who passed out notes to airplane passengers, apologizing if their child started to cry. He said he sweats when he enters his daughter’s room, where her crib remains untouched.
“It is critical for you to understand that you’ve created everlasting pain and depths of sorrow,” he said.