Family of man killed in crash with Zaon Collins says sentence too light
The sister of the man killed in a crash involving former Bishop Gorman basketball player Zaon Collins said Friday she hopes he changes his ways, but her family does not accept his apology.
Collins, 21, was sentenced Thursday to three months in jail, three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $3,500 fine. He will be subject to alcohol monitoring and mental health treatment while on probation.
He pleaded guilty in June to a felony charge of reckless driving resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, and a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter. The December 2020 crash at Fort Apache and Blue Diamond roads killed 52-year-old Eric Echevarria.
Echevarria’s younger sister, Marie, said Friday that she watched a livestream of the sentencing from her home in New York.
“I saw him apologize,” she said. “After two and a half years, now you apologize? All this time, nothing to say at the beginning. Now you’re sorry because you got probation, you’re locked up, you thought you were going get away with it. I just don’t accept his apology.”
Before he was sentenced Thursday, Collins apologized and said he hurt many people. Defense attorney Frank Kocka said Collins wants to use his probation to speak to other young adults about safe driving.
“I realized I took a lot of things for granted, and I also realized how fast a life can change due to a careless mistake,” Collins said.
Marie Echevarria, 43, said her brother will never get to see his only biological son, now a 16-year-old driver, graduate from high school. He also leaves behind two siblings, four adult stepchildren and six grandchildren.
“(Collins) said he was going to change his ways,” Echevarria said. “I really hope he does it so my brother’s death wasn’t in vain. I hope what he said was the truth. I hope he doesn’t hurt anybody else.”
Eric Echevarria grew up in the Bronx but had lived in Las Vegas for 24 years. He was an Army and National Guard veteran and worked as a custodian at a local elementary school.
“Justice wasn’t really served,” Marie Echevarria said Friday. “My brother deserved way more than that.”
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.