2023-08-10 01:40:47
Elizabeth Merrill y Anthony Olivieri9 de ago, 2023, 21:29Lectura: 7 min.
My Wish: Jailen Cooper Meets the Raiders
In 2010, the boy’s dream was fulfilled when he went to practice and lived with the runner Darren McFadden.
The former Raiders wide receiver pleaded guilty last May to causing the death of a woman and her dog in a 2021 car accident.
Former wide receiver for Las Vegas Raiders, Henry Ruggs IIIwas sentenced Wednesday to three to 10 years in prison for a November 2021 drunken crash that killed a Las Vegas woman and her dog.
Ruggs could be eligible for early release after three years.
Clark County District Judge Jennifer Schwartz told Ruggs on Wednesday that it has been one of the most tragic cases she has seen.
Henry Ruggs III will have the possibility of being released early, after three years in prison.Getty Images
Ruggs, 24, had been on house arrest with alcohol and location monitors since pleading guilty last May to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death, and one count of manslaughter for a crash involving life to Tina Tintor and her dog, Max. This Wednesday, Ruggs read a statement addressed to Tintor’s family, where he apologized for her actions.
“To the parents and family of Ms. Tintor, I sincerely apologize for all the pain and suffering,” Ruggs said.
Standing among his lawyers, wearing a dark blue suit, Ruggs spoke to Schwartz and said he let down his “family, colleagues and those who believed in me with my actions.” He said he had searched for answers over the past 21 months since the accident to explain his actions, but offers no excuses and hopes to begin the healing process, for himself and others involved. Ruggs hopes to raise awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence, and speeding.
“My actions are not a true reflection of me,” Ruggs said.
Ruggs had been facing a 10-year sentence in a Nevada state prison since May. The Raiders they cut Ruggs the day after the accident.
This Wednesday marked the first time someone from Tintor’s immediate family spoke publicly about the crash. Tintor came to the United States as a baby, anchoring a family that had fled war-torn Serbia. She helped her father navigate language barriers, babysat her nephew, and she was supposed to pick her father up from work on the day of the accident. The family had been present at the Ruggs hearings for the past two years.
Speaking then of Ruggs and defense attorney David Chesnoff, Tintor’s first, Daniel Strbac, read a statement on behalf of Tintor’s mother, Mirjana Komazec.
“We pray that this terrible accident inspires positive change in the world,” the statement said, para. “From the bottom of our hearts, we absolutely love and appreciate the members of our church, Raider Nation, the City of Las Vegas community, and all of the individuals who have stepped up to remind us that we are not alone, and that Tina and Max are not alone.”
Deputy Chief District Attorney Eric Bauman handles thousands of cases, but has kept Ruggs’ file prominently on his desk for nearly two years. He said that he has stopped at the monument to Tintor and has left tennis balls for Max.
“It was a horrendous case,” Bauman said. “The thing that stays with me the most…the crash didn’t kill her. She could have survived the impact and led a completely normal life. But she was burned to death, and her dog was burned to death, and she suffered. She’s after me. I drive through the monument all the time and I stop and it just never leaves my head.
Tintor, who was 23 years old, and Max, died of thermal injuries, a coroner ruled in December 2021.
In May, around the time of the guilty plea, the Clark County District Office issued a statement saying they believed issues with the search warrant to draw Ruggs’s blood at the hospital could have caused the charge of driving under the influence was discarded, in case of not agreeing to the guilty plea.
Earlier this year, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, along with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, lobbied for initiative laws that would increase punishments for cases similar to Ruggs’. Both initiatives were rejected by the state legislature.
Lindsey Valdez, director of mission operations for MADD, was in court Wednesday to support Tintor’s family.
“Today is a very heavy day,” Valdez said. “I think it marks a point in the case where there is some resolution on the criminal side of the case. But unfortunately that doesn’t really put an end to the family and their healing process.”
In court documents filed before the sentencing hearing, Ruggs’ lawyers had asked the judge to keep the length of their client’s prison time in the range of three to 10 years. Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld noted that Ruggs “wishes that he could turn back time and change the outcome of the tragic events of November 2, 2021.”
The lawyers presented a medical analysis of Ruggs’ life and health, background information, and testimonial letters in support of Ruggs. Several of the letters were from teachers and staff at Dr. Percy L. Julian High School (still Robert E. Lee High School when Ruggs attended high school) in Montgomery, Alabama, where Ruggs became a star. Mike Locksleywho coached Ruggs at the collegiate level to Alabama, also wrote a letter in support of Ruggs. Now, he is the head coach in Maryland.
According to police, on Nov. 2, 2021, Ruggs was driving under the influence and reaching speeds of 156 miles per hour before colliding his Chevrolet Corvette Stingray into Tintor’s Toyota RAV4, which was traveling just over 43 mph. miles per hour. Tintor’s truck was thrown about 571 feet. A blood draw about two hours after the crash revealed Ruggs’ alcohol level to be 0.161, more than twice the legal limit for Nevada.
In the hours before the crash, police said Ruggs was at Topgolf near the Strip with three other people, including his girlfriend, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington. Police cited a copy of the receipt from Topgolf, showing an account under the name of Kilgo-Washington for food, drinks and play. The group was charged for more than 20 drinks, most of which contained tequila, according to police. Authorities also reported that Ruggs and Kilgo-Washington were at a friend’s house for about three hours before the crash. According to police, Ruggs was playing pool and learning poker at the friend’s house.
Outside of the few words spoken in court, Ruggs has not spoken publicly about the case. Police obtained a transcript of a phone call from the prison on the day of the crash in which Ruggs, speaking to an unidentified man, admitted to being intoxicated. He said in the call, which lasted five minutes, that the last thing he remembered before the crash was learning to play poker. “I don’t even remember getting out of there,” he said, according to the transcript obtained by police.
A court decision last year allowed Ruggs to leave home confinement twice a week to train at a Las Vegas Valley venue. Around the same time, the court allowed him to move to California for then-unidentified medical treatment. Documents filed by Ruggs’ attorneys on Aug. 1 say Ruggs was treated for trauma from May 2 to May 30, 2022, at Mental Health Collective in Newport Beach, California. The documents state that Ruggs received 24-hour residential treatment for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to clinical director Kristen Zaleski.
Kilgo-Washington was in the car with Ruggs and was also hurt. A police report stated that she suffered a broken arm.
Ruggs was the first recruit of the Raiders after they arrived in Las Vegas. He was taken No. 12 overall in 2020 and played in 20 games for the franchise.
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