Las Vegas man sentenced to prison for killing 5-year-old child while driving drunk

A judge ordered a five- to 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence Wednesday for a man who pleaded guilty to killing a 5-year-old boy while driving drunk.

Guillermo Chochi Senobua, 47, was driving a work van on Oct. 6, 2023, when he hit Kamari Jordan Wolfe, who was being dropped off at school.

According to District Judge Jessica Peterson, Senobua’s blood alcohol level was .098 at 7 a.m., a fact she said was “very concerning” and indicated an underlying alcohol problem.

Jasmyn Wolfe, the child’s mother, said enduring the loss of her son was profound. “It was like losing my breath and never catching it again,” she said.

She asked that Senobua get the longest possible sentence, which Peterson said would be eight to 20 years.

Although that didn’t happen, Wolfe said after court that she was grateful for the time the judge ordered Senobua to serve.

Senobua, who spoke through a Spanish interpreter, said he was sorry and asked for forgiveness, a request some family members of the victim rejected.

He caused an uproar when a comment he made to the court was translated as: “I understand what this family’s suffering, what they’re going through, but I want them to know that my suffering is worse than theirs.”

“Wow,” said the judge. “I cannot even believe that you just said what you said. I am appalled that you would actually say that.”

Senobua clarified that he meant to say he was suffering for the innocent victim.

“That’s not the way that it came across,” said Peterson.

Defense attorney Benjamin Scroggins suggested something was lost in translation. He said after the hearing that his client is from the African country of Equatorial Guinea. Senobua’s native language is Bubi, the attorney said, but there are no interpreters locally. He learned Spanish and French in school.

Senobua was in the U.S. legally, said his attorney, who does not know of any immigration action against him.

Scroggins said his client feels remorse, participates in jail programs like Alcholics Anonymous and has no criminal history, other than a DUI case in Texas that was dismissed. He was driving only about 9 miles per hour at the time of the crash and had only about a second to react, said Scroggins.

Senobua complained his attorney did not give him an opportunity to read the documents that say he feels guilty, an apparent reference to his guilty plea. He claimed people intimidated and threatened him in his cell because they didn’t want to give him the papers.

Peterson said she found that Senobua had voluntarily pleaded guilty and would move forward with the hearing.

Scroggins said he had brought another attorney to discuss the plea with Senobua at the jail to ensure he fully understood it. He had explained to his client that Senobua could fire him or move forward, he said.

Carmel Hill, Kamari’s grandmother, said he was a happy child full of life and energy.

“It makes me very sad that we will never see him graduate from school, college, high school, have a girlfriend, get married or have kids,” she said.

Wolfe, the mother of the victim, said her son, who was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, had “no chance” when Senobua hit him.

“The days will always be brighter because my son existed,” she said. “The nights will always be darker because he’s gone.”

Wolfe has worked to prevent DUIs since the crash and encourages others to do the same. “Las Vegas DUI crimes with fatalities (have) gotten out of control,” she said.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.