ROYAL PALM BEACH, Fla. — A driver will spend the next eight years in prison after he was convicted Tuesday of slamming into four Royal Palm Beach students at their school bus stop last year, killing two of them.
The four teens, 15-year-olds Tiana Johnson, Wazir Chand, Rondell Lawrence and Khoi Phan were hit by Angel Lopez in March 2022 while they waited at Cypress Lakes Drive and Crestwood Boulevard South. Chand and Johnson, both Royal Palm Beach High School students, died in the crash.
WPTV spoke Wednesday to Doodnarine Singh, Chand's grandfather, who said justice is not being served for his loved one.
Singh said the pain of losing a member of his family will never go away.
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"No, never, never, it will never go away," Singh said. "Since this thing happened, everybody is like down. We never have a good day. We never have a good holiday or nothing."
Singh was in the courtroom for Tuesday's sentencing where Lopez pleaded guilty to two counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of driving under the influence for the fatal crash.
Investigators said Lopez was under the influence of a prescribed sleep aid and anti-anxiety medications at the time of the wreck.
Prosecutors recommended an eight-year sentence with a revoked driver's license for life, which the judge agreed with.
"No, that was no justice because he will be on the road in the next couple of years from now, and he can do whatever he wants," Singh said. "I lost my grandson and that I will never forget."
From a young age, Chand was close to his grandfather.
"He was such a good kid," Singh said. "He was such a nice kid. He was doing so well in school. He was a good boy in school."
Singh said his grandson was a quiet, easy-going kid. He said he feels blessed for the time he had with his grandchild.
"It was too short. The time was too short," he said.
Singh said the death of Wazir has forever changed his family.
