A memorial was placed at Olympic Boulevard and Overland Avenue for Monique Munoz after she was killed in a collision in February. (photo courtesy of the 5th district council office)
A Beverly Hills teenager will spend several months in a juvenile camp for causing a collision that killed another driver on Feb. 17.
Brendan Khuri, who was 17 at the time of the collision, was sentenced on Oct. 21 at the Inglewood Juvenile Courthouse. Nine months is the longest a juvenile can be sentenced to the county’s camp system.
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Greg Risling said Khuri will spend between seven and nine months in the camp, depending on behavior. Had he been tried as an adult, Khuri would have faced a maximum of six years in state prison.
In February, Khuri was driving a black Lamborghini SUV at speeds of more than 100 mph when he collided with a Lexus sedan driven by Monique Munoz, 32, near Olympic Boulevard and Overland Avenue. The force of the collision nearly split Munoz’s car in half, and she died at the scene.
Khuri was booked for vehicular manslaughter on Feb. 23 in absentia due to being hospitalized. Because he was a juvenile, he was allowed to remain in the custody of his parents.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Khuri on April 12. Later that month, Khuri admitted to one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in Inglewood Juvenile Court.
Khuri is the son of James Khuri, a Beverly Hills businessman who developed and distributed Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! And Magic the Gathering trading cards. The elder Khuri issued an apology on social media earlier this year.
“Knowing that this will never do justice for the family of Monique Munoz, I want to apologize to the Munoz family for the tragic loss of their daughter,” James Khuri wrote on Instagram. “There are no words I can say to alleviate the pain that you are experiencing. And I realize none of my words or actions will be able to bring back your daughter. Still, I want to offer my support in any way you will allow me to. My family and I pray for the Munoz family.”
Brendan Khuri’s sentencing hearing drew demonstrations from Oct. 14-15 outside the Inglewood Juvenile Courthouse, and friends and family of Munoz posted on social media that the teen should receive the maximum punishment allowed under the law. Probation, which is what the defendant’s attorneys requested, would be too light a punishment, the posts said.
“My cousin was killed by a rich kid who was racing,” one post read. “She was just trying to drive home from work … her family still [doesn’t] have the justice they deserve.”
3 Comments
That’s really terrible it’s always the rich that pay their way out I had a son who is 13 they put them in juvenile hall until he was 25 and then he went on to the big man’s our prison all because he broke into someone’s house and beautiful boy that was picking on his brother now this person killed somebody and was warned I don’t know how many times but he’s doing six seven months as a juvenile bulshit he 17th he should do the full adult time that’s that’s not right I guess because he must be white that’s all I can say is that he has money why don’t they pay for funeral expenses and give them even more money to for a handout because their mother is not here she can’t work and they’re going to need the money that sucks that’s bulshit see how life is b******* only the rich survive but not in God’s eyes your son will pay and answer to the Lord my prayers go out to the family and the mother he killed and they’re in our prayers I’m sorry but this makes me angry
Whats important is that he is behind bars, so the Munoz family can mourn the tragic unexpected and preventable loss of their family member in a way that is healthy and with the reassurance that the system is not dodging or dogging their responsibility to respect and heed the law abiding people who suffer as a consequence of these kinds of creeps’ “devil may care” style antics. ✨
I think this whole thing is disgusting that rich people basically get away with murder just because they have money if anybody else had done this they’d be in prison for the rest of their lives I don’t think vehicular manslaughter applies when the person is going 120 miles an hour in my opinion that’s grounds for murder