A woman accused in a hit-and-run crash in Santa Ana that left a 26-year-old band teacher dead was sentenced to six years in prison.
Tracy Clapp, 36, received the sentence during a court hearing in Orange County on Monday. She was convicted in the crash that killed Chris Chavez in April on Bristol Street. Chavez was headed to Denny's when Clapp ran a red light and knocked him over, police said. Chavez died at a hospital days later.
Chavez's family was devastated at the news Monday.
"I feel like I'm under water," Chavez's sister, Emily, said through tears. "I feel like I'm drowning and I can't breathe."
His grandmother, Christine Klehr, said they were very close.
"We were very close from the day he was born until his life was senselessly, tragically, horribly, recklessly stamped out," she said.
Clapp pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter, hit and run and evading arrest.
Through tears she told the judge, "I do not want to go to trial."
The Chavez family said Clapp, a mother of two, took something from them that is irreplaceable.
"You're heartless," said father Ralph Chavez. "You have no respect for the law."
News
Top news of the day
On April 20, Chavez was crossing on a green light about 2 a.m., when a black BMW speeding through a red light struck him, police said.
A witness saw what happened and took a photo that shows a woman walking toward her four-door car with paper plates. Less than a minute later, investigators said she got back in and took off.
Officers found Clapp driving away from a home in Santa Ana in a stolen car and took her into custody following a brief chase. She was taken to a hospital to recover from injuries suffered during the takedown, police said.
Clapp apparently tried to conceal her identity, dying her hair pink and getting a tattoo on her cheek. She also used blue and green contacts, police said.
