A Gardena man has pleaded no contest in connection with a DUI crash in which he drove an SUV onto a South Los Angeles sidewalk, fatally injuring a 3-year-old boy walking with his mother earlier this year.
George Edward Milton Jr., 33, immediately was sentenced to 12 years in state prison following his plea to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Milton was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Tahoe that veered off the road on 92nd Street near Figueroa Street, struck the boy on the sidewalk on May 20 and crashed into a nearby gate, authorities said.
Milton then put the vehicle in reverse and ran over the toddler again, according to Deputy District Attorney Jessica Kronstadt.
The boy, Eidan Cortez, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Milton tried to leave the area, but was stopped by bystanders and subsequently arrested by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Traffic Division, authorities said.
