Va. teen pleads guilty to reckless driving in friend's '21 Jump Street' car stunt death
LEESBURG, Va. - A year after a car stunt ended with the death of his friend, a Loudoun County teenager pleaded guilty in court on Monday.
Shafin Karim left the courthouse behind his family after pleading guilty to reckless driving. He was originally charged with manslaughter in the death of his friend, 17-year-old Mohammad Khalid.
These two friends had some spare time and decided reenact movie stunts with their car at Dulles Crossing Plaza in Ashburn. It was an idea that turned into tragedy.
We asked Karim what he wanted others to learn from this incident.
"Just don't do anything crazy," said Karim. "You never know what is going to happen. We're teenagers doing stupid things and you know what can happen when you're having fun, but you got to learn the worst can happen."
"The defendant had initially said what they were doing was '21 Jump Street' moves from the movie '21 Jump Street,' which involves jumping over cars, sliding across moving cars, pretty reckless and dangerous activities," said Loudoun County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Russet Perry.
But surveillance video showed they never even got to the dangerous stuff.
"The ATM video sort of depicted what they actually were doing that night, which turned out to be just letting his friend sit on the back of his car," said Perry. "He went probably five miles an hour and shifted the car into neutral and his friend just slid off."
The prosecutor said the victim's family asked for a plea deal to avoid a trial.
"I doubt they ever left that evening thinking, 'Hey, you know, something bad is going to happen tonight, something that is tragic and will change the course of both of our lives,'" Perry said.
What would Karim want to say to his friend's parents?
"I'm sorry for what happened," Karim said.
Karim pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. The judge suspended all but one month of jail time. He will let him serve on weekends so he can continue to stay in college.
He will also pay $1,000 fine and lose his driver's license for six months.