Judge’s Sentence to Drunk Driver Toughest Ever in County
A Vibrant Life Cut Short
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| Portrait of a vibrant young woman |
An underage, 19-year-old drunk driver going 105 mph plowed his Jeep Grand Cherokee into Samar Seliem’s Mitsubishi Mirage in front of her family’s New Jersey home on December 29, 2006. “It sounded like an explosion. We thought it was some terroristic action, a bomb, but it was my daughter,” says her father, Abou Seliem.
Samar, a 21-year-old sophomore interior design student at Kean University was killed instantly. She’d barely begun to move her car from the family driveway so that her older brother, Islam, could get his car out.
Abou’s message to everyone: “I want the people in Old Bridge Township and all of New Jersey to know that whether you drink or don’t is a very personal affair. But if you do, don’t go out. Once you step outside, there are some restrictions that apply so you don’t hurt anybody else.
The Train of Life
“Everybody has to stop to get on the train of life,” Abou says, “and everybody has to stop to get off. Unfortunately, Samar’s stop was before my stop. She got off, but we’re still on.” The Seliems, who are Muslim, believe that “children are deposits from God. He gives them to us and He has the right to take them back,” Samar’s father says.
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| Islam, Salma and Samar Seliem |
Samar’s younger sister, Salma, studies management at Middlesex County College. Islam earned his engineering degree at Rutgers University. Before her death, Samar had just told the family that she’d earned all A’s during the fall semester. The Muslim culture teaches that parents’ main job in life is the education of their children.
"A Human Killed a Human. . ."
Some people suggested that the drunk driving offender would not be held responsible for his actions because the Saliems are Muslim. Abou’s reply: “I know this community, and no one has asked about that.” He says he felt that he was in good hands when the judge was deciding the defendant’s sentence, and a religious issue was raised. The judge insisted, “A human killed a human. This is not about religion.”
Maria Esteves, MADD’s volunteer victim advocate for the Seliems, says that when the defendant’s family asked for a lesser charge in court, Samar’s mother stood up, holding the cut-up jeans her daughter had worn at the time of the crash. Esteves remembers Mona saying, “If you can bring back my daughter, I don’t care.” Esteves says, “It was a very emotional, sad day. Both sides cried.”
Law Forbids Early Release
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| Beloved daughter and sister |
The offender pleaded guilty and was convicted of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault and DWI. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) measured .17 two hours after the crash, more than twice the legal limit. He and his two passengers escaped virtually unharmed. “His car contained 11 cans of beer, vodka and marijuana,” says Abou. The defendant admitted to drinking nine beers and smoking marijuana earlier in the day.
Judge James Mulvihill of Superior Court, New Brunswick handed down the highest drunk driving sentence in the county ever – 18 years in prison, a $2,600 fine, and the offender’s driver’s license withdrawn for 10 years after his release. These charges fall under the No Early Release Act, so the defendant will not be eligible for parole until he serves 85 percent, or 15 years of his sentence.
Samar died a day after her brother’s birthday, on the eve of the Muslim holiday Eid-Ul-Adha, the Feast (or Day) of Sacrifice, an annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. All Muslims are expected to go at least once during their lifetime, unless they are prevented by finances or ill health. A year after Samar died, MADD held a candlelight vigil before the Seliems’ pilgrimage to Mecca. Abou says they made the lengthy journey “for ourselves and for Samar. This year we will just visit Samar.”
A Community's Support
Since Samar’s violent death, the Seliem family has been especially grateful for the wonderful support shown by their neighborhood, local officials, customers from Abou’s Dollar Store, friends and MADD. The crash even devastated complete strangers. One person left a letter in the Seliems’ mailbox asking permission to hold a candlelight vigil in memory of Samar on January 29, a month after Samar was killed. The Saliems had only been in the neighborhood since their move from Cairo, Egypt in July 2002.
“Maria from MADD has been very active,” says Abou. “She contacted the newspaper, which was very important, because it moved public opinion. She also attended all the court sessions. Everyone knew her, which helped.” Esteves identifies with the Seliems’ pain. Her nine-year-old daughter and her uncle were killed by a drunk driver while they were crossing a street. She has served as a victim advocate with MADD for more than 17 years.
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