Former DC firefighter pleads guilty in connection to 2015 street racing death
A former DC firefighter pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the 2015 street racing death of Matthew Roth.
Ryan Thompson was facing a second-degree murder charge and a July trial when he decided instead to take the plea on Monday.
Prosecutors say Thompson and another man, Rasheed Murray, were racing each other up 16th Street in July 2015 at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. The race ended in a crash near a tennis stadium that claimed the life of Matthew Roth -- a recent graduate of the University of Maryland who was behind the wheel of his car and crushed when one of the two vehicles overturned on top of his.
Murray has already pleaded guilty in the case. Thompson will be sentenced in October.
Two years ago, Roth's father, David, spoke out about the lack of urgency in getting justice for his son.
"The delay seems to be just the court system in general," he said. "They could have got this thing done in a year if they pushed it. I also think because they are not detained, nobody cares and it just gets pushed to the back."