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Punishment for Cabbie Who Killed Cooper Stock an 'Insult,' Parents Say

By Emily Frost | April 14, 2015 2:07pm
 The driver will face a six months driver's license suspension, have to pay a $500 fine and take a driver safety course, the DA's Office said. 
Driver Who Killed Cooper Stock Charged with Traffic Violation
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UPPER WEST SIDE — The cabdriver who fatally struck 9-year-old Cooper Stock will pay a fine and have his license suspended as a result of the tragic crash — outraging his parents who called the punishment an "insult" to their child's memory. 

On Monday, Koffi Komlani was fined $500, had his driver's license suspended for six months and will have to take a driver safety course after pleading guilty to the Jan. 10, 2014 crash, the Manhattan District Attorney's office said. 

The maximum penalty Komlani could have faced was a $750 fine and 15 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to failure to exercise due care resulting in serious injury, the DA's office said.

The district attorney did not make a recommendation about the severity of the sentencing and did not push for the maximum sentence. The DA declined to comment on why it didn't push for more severe criminal charges.

"How is a person’s life worth nothing more than a $500 fine?" Dana Lerner, Cooper's mother, told DNAinfo after learning of the decision.

Listen to DNAinfo's podcast interview with Dana Lerner:

Lerner and her husband Richard Stock were outraged that Komlani did not face more serious charges and was handed down a punishment they considered woefully lenient.

The traffic violation Komlani was given by Judge Erika Edwards is "an insult" to Cooper's memory, they said in a statement.

"Reckless driving is criminal," Lerner told DNAinfo. "Any other crime, no one else would stand for this. You can kill somebody in New York City and nothing happens to you."

Komlani was turning left onto West End Avenue from West 97th Street when he hit Cooper and his father as they were crossing in the crosswalk along the avenue.

He had been driving for less than a year and had a probationary license, Taxi and Limousine Commission spokesman Alan Fromberg said. He was denied a TLC license this past July, he confirmed.

Monday's sentencing brings no closure to Cooper's parents, Lerner told DNAinfo.

"It will never be over for me," she said. "Part of me still can’t believe it. I still held out hope that there would be some kind of justice — even that is squashed."

Komlani's lawyer did not return a request for comment. 

While the driver can apply for a TLC license again, "he would have to go through theTLC's stringent licensing fitness review process, which would take his prior history into account," Fromberg noted.