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Haverhill
'I will miss him at every milestone': Daughter talks of missing father as driver is jailed for fatal crash
Published: March 30, 2007
HAVERHILL - The last time Nicole Lamkin spoke to her father, Lawrence Monahan Jr., he cried.
Monahan, 53, had just fulfilled his dream of owning a Harley Davidson but now was worried whether he could afford it on top of his daughter's wedding.
Hours later, his life was abruptly taken by a speeding green Saturn as he was backing out of his Rosemont Street driveway on his new motorcycle.
Yesterday, the driver of that car - Alexis Ortiz, 23, of 27 Victor St. - pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and vehicular homicide in Salem Superior Court. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, of which he is to serve two years. He was also sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered not to drive for 15 years.
Present at the sentencing were Monahan's second wife, Jacqueline Monahan, and his daughter Lamkin, who flew in from Florida for the sentencing. Lamkin spoke of how she and her estranged father had worked hard during the last three years to repair their relationship, and the pain of celebrating her wedding without him.
"I will miss him at every milestone for the rest of my life," she said. "The relationship we had worked so hard to repair will remain like one of his cars, partially repaired forever."
Jacqueline Monahan, meanwhile, spoke of the emotional and financial hardship she has faced since losing her husband.
"I wish you could know that you didn't just kill Larry Monahan," she told Ortiz. "You killed a part of me and of everyone who knew and loved Larry, and I hope that you and your family will know that pain for the rest of your life."
Ortiz was doing 81 mph in a 30-mph zone when he struck Monahan on the evening of March 18, 2006, said prosecutor John Brennan. Three witnesses also said he had passed them and driven through several stop signs, Brennan said.
Based on the circumstances, Brennan requested that Ortiz receive a sentence of five to seven years in state prison.
"I can only say from meeting with Jackie Monahan that this is a really unspeakable and horrific tragedy," Brennan said. "He (Ortiz) definitely made a decision to operate his car at a speed that is unbelievable, and any reasonable individual would have known that."
Clad in a black pinstripe suit and black tie, Ortiz - who has been free on $5,000 bail since October - apologized to Monahan's family for his actions.
Monahan, 53, had just fulfilled his dream of owning a Harley Davidson but now was worried whether he could afford it on top of his daughter's wedding.
Hours later, his life was abruptly taken by a speeding green Saturn as he was backing out of his Rosemont Street driveway on his new motorcycle.
Yesterday, the driver of that car - Alexis Ortiz, 23, of 27 Victor St. - pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and vehicular homicide in Salem Superior Court. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, of which he is to serve two years. He was also sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered not to drive for 15 years.
Present at the sentencing were Monahan's second wife, Jacqueline Monahan, and his daughter Lamkin, who flew in from Florida for the sentencing. Lamkin spoke of how she and her estranged father had worked hard during the last three years to repair their relationship, and the pain of celebrating her wedding without him.
"I will miss him at every milestone for the rest of my life," she said. "The relationship we had worked so hard to repair will remain like one of his cars, partially repaired forever."
Jacqueline Monahan, meanwhile, spoke of the emotional and financial hardship she has faced since losing her husband.
"I wish you could know that you didn't just kill Larry Monahan," she told Ortiz. "You killed a part of me and of everyone who knew and loved Larry, and I hope that you and your family will know that pain for the rest of your life."
Ortiz was doing 81 mph in a 30-mph zone when he struck Monahan on the evening of March 18, 2006, said prosecutor John Brennan. Three witnesses also said he had passed them and driven through several stop signs, Brennan said.
Based on the circumstances, Brennan requested that Ortiz receive a sentence of five to seven years in state prison.
"I can only say from meeting with Jackie Monahan that this is a really unspeakable and horrific tragedy," Brennan said. "He (Ortiz) definitely made a decision to operate his car at a speed that is unbelievable, and any reasonable individual would have known that."
Clad in a black pinstripe suit and black tie, Ortiz - who has been free on $5,000 bail since October - apologized to Monahan's family for his actions.
"I'm sorry you lost your husband," he told Jacqueline Monahan. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Judge Leila Kern also apologized to Lamkin as she left the courtroom.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Afterwards, Jacqueline Monahan said she was as satisfied as she could be with the sentence.
"I think that he got today more than I expected because the system is wrong and because judges don't take these behaviors seriously enough," she said. "As much as a person can be satisfied with something that's not going to fix them, I'm satisfied with it."
