Inset: Patricia Garner (Eric L. Wilson Funeral Home). Background: Sharon Cox (WTVJ).
A 65-year-old Florida woman is headed to prison after she fatally ran over a grandma outside a Miami community center before fleeing the scene — but the victim”s family says she’s not going away for long enough.
Sharon Cox was sentenced to four years behind bars in the 2023 death of 67-year-old Patricia Garner.
“To get only the amount of time she got for killing her, it hurts,” Allie Mobley, Garner’s sister, told local ABC affiliate WPLG.
Mobley added: “You get more time for running over a dog than you will killing a human being.”
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Garner, her son and some of her grandchildren were walking in the parking lot of the Community Action and Services Center at Bunche Park in July 2023. Cox struck Garner and two others and then drove away. An employee of the community center was able to take down the suspect’s license plate and cops arrested her at her home later that day.
Cox pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crash with death and other charges. A judge handed down her sentence on Tuesday. She did not make a statement during the plea hearing, which upset Garner’s family, relatives told local NBC affiliate WTVJ.
“Ms. Cox didn’t even stand up and say that she was sorry,” Sandra Welch, Garner’s sister-in-law, told the TV station. “She didn’t say one word.”
Prosecutors initially were going to offer Cox a deal in which she would have to serve just one year behind bars, but Garner’s family wouldn’t go for it.
“You have to fight for your own loved one,” said Bruce Baskin, Garner’s brother. “The system is not going to fight for your loved one — you have to fight. Patricia was not here to fight for herself.”
The Miami-Dade State’s Attorney’s Office released the following statement to local media.
“For every family member in every criminal case, the pain of victimization always cuts deep,” the statement said. “We understand that though this resolution is what the law allows in this case and had been accepted by the victim’s family, no sentence can ever lessen the loss of a loved one. Our hope is that now they can begin their grieving process and find peace.”
Cox’s attorney in a statement to WTVJ called the plea deal an “appropriate resolution where none of the parties involved were fully satisfied.”
“This was a tough case, a tragic accident, and we hope this finality can bring closure to the victim’s family,” attorney Andrew Rier said.
