‘They will get justice’: Mum’s vow to kids after killer driver given ‘joke’ sentence
When Johnson Kokozian unnecessarily and unceremoniously crossed to the wrong side of Sadleir Boulevard and crashed into an oncoming Toyota Echo, killing siblings Alina Kauffman and Ernesto Salazar, he paid more attention to his luxury SUV than to his victims.
Kokozian did not stop to check on Alina and Ernesto at the scene of the horrific crash at Heckenberg in Sydney’s south-west in September 2023.
Had he done so, he would have seen Alina die instantly and Ernesto being trapped in the front passenger seat where he suffered a heart attack for 39 minutes before dying.
In statements to others later, Kokozian expressed concern that his high-powered Mercedes AMG, which he purchased only that day, was uninsured.
He repeatedly lied to police about who was behind the wheel and took the time to post a video of himself eating KFC on social media.
Kokozian’s sentencing last week and being told he could only be released after five and a half years in prison left Alina and Ernesto’s family in shock.
Now their mother, Angelina Kauffman, is calling on the Office of the Public Prosecutor (ODPP) to appeal Kokozian’s sentence and keep him in prison longer.
“I promised my children that I would be their voice and that they would get justice,” Ms. Kauffman told NewsWire.
‘This is not justice’
Kokozian was sentenced to nine years in prison by District Court Judge David Arnott on Wednesday.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated dangerous driving causing death and two counts of failure to stop and render aid following a vehicle collision causing death.
The maximum penalty for both crimes is 14 years and 10 years in prison respectively.
However, since time has expired, Kokozian is expected to leave the team by March 2029.
Ms. Kauffman said the outcome lit a fire inside her.
“I’m confused and angry about the justice system here,” he said.
“They don’t care about the victims. They don’t care about the families of the victims, they care about the criminals.”
He added: “My children did not deserve to die, they do not deserve this, this is not justice.”
In response to questions about whether the ODPP would review Kokozian’s sentence, a media official made a general statement.
“The ODPP will assess the sentence imposed in accordance with the Prosecution Guidelines,” the spokesman said.
NSW Attorney General Michael Daley also refused to answer questions about whether Kokozian’s sentence was inadequate and whether an appeal should be lodged.
“While no sentence can compensate for the loss of a loved one, I can understand Ms. Kauffman’s distress in this case,” Mr. Daley said in a statement.
“The DPP is independent of the government. Questions about its processes or decisions should be directed to the DPP.”
When asked about Mr. Daley’s response, Ms. Kauffman said: “I guess he doesn’t really care.”
He also questioned how Mr Daley would react if his daughter died in a crash and “went off like he wasn’t worth anything” and the killer driver was jailed for at least five-and-a-half years.
But Ms. Kauffman will not sit quietly on the sidelines and is ready to begin the fight.
Describing Kokozian’s sentence as a “joke”, the artist said that he felt as if his soul had been ripped out of his body.
“I don’t know what I have to do. I have to escalate things. I’m not going to sit back. I can’t let this go,” he said.
top of a hill
CCTV of the crash shown to the court showed the devastating impact of the head-on collision which sent Alina’s Toyota Echo backwards.
This also showed how fast Kokozian was advancing from the front; police estimated he was going between 60 mph and 109 mph in a 50 zone.
Moments earlier, one of Kokozian’s passengers had shouted “police” after believing he saw an unmarked police car.
Kokozian, whose license was suspended at the time, accelerated and began closing the back door of a white Volkswagen.
CCTV of the horror crash in Heckenberg where Alina Kauffman and Ernesto Salazar were killed.
When he reached the top of a hill on Sadleir Boulevard, Kokozian suddenly crossed the solid double line and swerved to the wrong side of the road, his SUV crashing into the Toyota driven by Alina, who had just picked up her brother from work.
The impact was so violent that it was surprising that the three passengers in the SUV were not killed.
‘You owe me your car’
After the accident, Kokozian and his two passengers did not stop to check on Alina and Ernesto.
They convinced a good Samaritan that one of the beheaded passengers needed to be hospitalized.
However, they instructed him to go to Kokozian’s father’s house, where they hid on the road.
During the car ride, Kokozian was heard making a phone call, during which he said, “I crashed the car,” “What do you mean you don’t have insurance,” and “I’m going to get whipped for this, aren’t I?”
In a conversation with another person on Snapchat, he again showed that he was only interested in his car and money.
“I got my car fixed,” he said.
“I turned the new amg… Damn meee
When the other person asked if he was okay, he replied: “Oh, hahaha… 300k gone.”
Later in the chat, he said: “I lost my 80 thousand amg today… I was locked up for a long time.”
He then became angry with the passenger, who shouted “police” and asked him to sign his car.
“Why did you say there was copper in there? You owe me your car, now I want you to sign it,” Kokozian told the man, according to court documents seen by NewsWire.
He also said: “I need 15 thousand for the lawyer and 80 thousand for the insurance of the car.”
He then again demanded the man sign his car and falsely threatened to tell the police that the man was behind the wheel and to tell his girlfriend that he had slept with another woman.
Before his arrest, Kokozian videotaped himself eating KFC on social media.
“This will be the last KFC I eat for another 20 years, mark my words,” he told the camera.
When arrested, Kokozian repeatedly tried to shift the blame to others.
When police officers asked who was behind the wheel he said: “His name, what did I say? Damn, let me think because my brain, I’ll be honest with you Kamier, I think his name is something like Abdul or Ali.”
“I don’t want to lie to you, you know what I mean.”
