An elderly San Francisco woman who fatally ran down an Apple executive and his family with her Mercedes is likely to dodge jail time \u2014 leaving relatives of the victims appalled.<\/p>\n
Mary Fong Lau, 80, was charged after she plowed into Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, his wife Matilde Ramos and their two children, Joaquim and Cau\u00ea in March 2024 \u2014 killing the entire family and injuring others.<\/p>\n
The elderly driver previously pleaded not guilty \u2014 but entered a no contest plea to the charges on Friday, the Daily Mail reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mary Fong Lau, 80, fatally ran down a family of four with her luxury vehicle in March 2024. San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n Cardoso de Oliveira, an executive at Apple, and his family were waiting for a bus in San Francisco\u2019s West Portal neighborhood when Lau ran them over at a reportedly high rate of speed.<\/p>\n Lau was charged with four counts of vehicular manslaughter \u2014 which is punishable by up to 15-years-to-life in prison in California per count \u2014 but the elderly woman will likely only serve two to three years probation due to her old age, the \u2018remorse\u2019 she showed in changing her plea, and because she had no prior criminal record, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n While Judge Bruce Chan acknowledged the tragedy was \u2018incomprehensible,\u2019 he noted that giving Lau a prison stint would be \u2018sentencing her to die within the state prison system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMrs. Lau is going to spend the rest of her days living with the knowledge of the harm she has caused to others,\u201d Chan said in court.<\/p>\n Lau\u2019s husband died in a car crash years ago, which also factored into the court\u2019s leniency. The judge also said Lau cried at the hospital when she learned the family had died, telling medical staff she wished she could have traded places with them, according to the Chronicle.<\/p>\n The elderly woman will be sentenced at a hearing on a later date.<\/p>\n Cardoso de Oliveira, an Apple executive, and his family were waiting for a bus in a residential neighborhood while on their way to the San Francisco Zoo, when Lau drove into the family, striking them at a high speed.<\/p>\n Relatives of the victims were outraged to hear Lau could be getting off scot-free \u2014 and requested she be sentenced to home detention, community service and be stripped of her license, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like we have no rights,\u201d Cardoso de Oliveira\u2019s sister, Denise Oliveira told the judge.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel deeply disrespected by this process. It doesn\u2019t feel like justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Prosecutors agreed with the family\u2019s sentiments \u2014 objecting to Lau pleading no contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n