June 16, 2023
Provided Image/Lower Merion School District
Azuka Ossai, the driver crashed into the vehicle of Sean Hughes, killing the former Lower Merion High School principal was sentenced to 90 days house arrest and five years probation in New Jersey on Thursday. Hughes had been driving his 13-year-old son to a soccer game on Nov. 13, 2021, when the crash happened.
The Camden County man at the wheel of the SUV that was speeding when it ran a stop sign in New Jersey nearly two years ago and slammed into the vehicle driven by Lower Merion High School principal Sean Hughes, killing him, was sentenced three months of house arrest on Thursday.
Azuka Ossai, 55, of Pine Hills, had been driving a Mercedes SUV in Winslow Township the morning of Nov. 13, 2021, when he missed a stop sign at Fleming Pike and Hays Road and crashed into Hughes' SUV. The 51-year-old principal was driving his son, Nolan, to a soccer match in South Jersey.
Ossai was charged with second degree vehicular homicide and fourth degree assault by auto in March 2022. As part of a plea deal, the defendant had admitted he was speeding when the crash happened., NBC10 reported.
Along his house arrest sentence and five years probation, Ossai was ordered to pay Hughes' family $5,000 restitution and complete 30 days of community service. At Thursday's sentencing hearing, Ossai's attorney said his client has been volunteering as a church janitor and working as a caretaker in Philadelphia in order to pay the money he owes, the Inquirer reported.
"The last horrific 19 months is just the beginning of a lifetime of sadness, anger, and devastation you created," Kristi Hughes, the former principal's widow, said in court. "All of this anger and sadness could have been avoided. You carelessly took a life that far exceeds your worth."
After the crash, Hughes, who had lived in Harleysville, Montgomery County, died at the hospital where he had been transported with his 13-year-old son, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Hughes was principal at Lower Merion High School for 14 years and served as head of the Central Athletic League. His friends and family have described how he was adored by the Lower Merion school community and well known for his slogan, "character counts."
"Mr. Hughes was beloved by thousands of students who passed through the halls of Lower Merion over the years," Superintendent Khalid Mumin said after the crash. "He knew most of them by name and always had time to listen to their concerns, cheer them on and support their accomplishments. (Students) greeted him in the halls by calling out his signature nickname, 'Huuuuuuughes.'"
Since his death, his family, friends, students and alumni have planned a permanent tribute to the former school administrator. The Lower Merion School District commissioned Miguel Antonio Horn, a local sculptor and Harriton High School alum, to design artwork in Hughes' memory on the school's campus. It will be part of a memorial garden and plaza.
Also, Lower Merion Township has created a scholarship in Hughes' memory, and there's a children's book in the works that teachers about the importance of character.
