(Credit: Williamson County Jail)
One of the drivers involved in a crash that killed two young Cedar Park boys in 2018 has been sentenced to seven years behind bars. Hayden Michael Hammer was convicted last week for his role in that crash that killed 1-year-old Daniel Chaudhary and 8-year-old Elijah Chaudhary. The boys’ mother and stepmother, Zara Salman, was severely injured and left with life-long brain injuries.
According to the initial police investigation from January 2018, Hammer, who was 18 at the time of the incident, was seen on surveillance video from nearby businesses racing another truck on West Whitestone Boulevard when he slammed into the family’s SUV as it was making a turn onto Walton Way. The driver of the other vehicle involved, Blake Kirkpatrick, is still awaiting trial.
On Monday, a jury handed down that seven year sentence to Hammer, as well as ten years of probation. Family and friends appeared stunned, and afterward, Tansy Silva, Eli’s mother, slammed the sentence, calling it an insult to the grieving family.
“Racing on a highway causing death or serious bodily injury is okay, as long as it’s not their children,” she said.
She was joined by her husband, Roland Silva, Eli’s stepfather, who also expressed his anger.
“Those who represented the community on that jury panel determined that a seven-year sentence is sufficient for the lives of two children, and a mother with brain damage and physical impairments, and serious bodily injury. That’s the message I’m hearing,” he said.
Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick was also not in agreement with the sentence, believing Hammer should’ve been slapped with the full weight of the law.
“What Mrs. Silva has been so concerned about is making sure this doesn’t happen to someone else,” Dick said. “So, it’s disappointing for them because they want the message to be so crystal clear that no one else engages in this kind of conduct.”
Hammer had been facing two decades behind bars, but instead he will be eligible for parole in 3 1/2 years.
