High-Speed Hit & Run Driver Goes To Prison In Double Murder Crash

LAKE FOREST, CA — A Costa Mesa man will spend 30 years to life in prison for the speed-racing hit and run collision that killed a Lake Forest woman and her 2-year-old granddaughter.

Alec Scott Abraham, 20 at the time of the collision, was charged with the fatal hit and run that killed Katherine Hampton of Lake Forest, 54, and her granddaughter, Kaydence Hampton, 2. The toddler's mother, Megan Hampton, suffered a broken jaw while her son, Nathaniel, then 7, suffered a broken collarbone in the crash.

Last year, at his original trial in the spring of 2019, a juror changed her mind at the last minute, leaving the judge to call for a mistrial. He was retried and convicted of second-degree murder earlier this month. Still, his bizarre courtroom behavior was not unnoticed by those present, including Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham.

On Friday, Abraham asked the judge to sentence him right away, claiming that he was also a "victim in this case," City News Service reported. Though Abraham's attorney said that a new trial should be set, and that he "should have been allowed to represent himself," Pham instead admonished Abraham for his outbursts interrupting court proceedings. All motions calling for insufficient evidence that Abraham showed implied malice were denied by Pham.

Megan Hampton spoke out at the sentencing hearing, saying that both she and her son both have "pain, scars and trauma" but adding that she "thanks her lucky stars every day" that her son remained alive.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky spoke at an earlier trial describing Abraham's street racing that led to the fatal crash.

According to Bokosky, Abraham was street racing downhill when he flashed through a "stale" red light and effectively T-boned a car, killing the two victims. Hampton was pronounced dead at the scene, and Kaydence died four days later. The girl's 7-year-old brother suffered a broken collarbone, and his 28- year-old mother was treated for a jaw fracture.

Meanwhile, Abraham fled the scene on foot, police reported. A manhunt search ensued,involving bloodhounds and helicopter crews. Ultimately, he was located in a park nearby and arrested for the fatal crash.

During the first trial, Bokowsky described Abraham's high-speed driving down Alton.

He was racing another car as he approached the intersection at Barranca, going 76 mph before 9 p.m. that day, Bokowsky said. He was seen swerving to get around stopped traffic at the red light and slammed his car into Katherine Hampton's Chevrolet Cruze.

Both vehicles crashed into a Honda Civic that was at the intersection. The 44-year-old woman behind the wheel of that car was also injured.

"In no world is this an accident ... That is why he is charged with murder," the prosecutor said in her opening statement.

Abraham fled the scene of the crash and was arrested the following day, according to Bokosky, who said the defendant has a history of "reckless" driving that includes racing a motorcyclist on an Orange County toll road at speeds up to 120 mph after another motorist declined his challenge just a few days before the fatal crash.

"She's going to tell you that none other than Alec Abraham challenged her to race... with his Elvis pompadour, and she said, 'No thanks,"' Bokosky said.

The prosecutor also showed jurors a video the defendant took of himself racing on a freeway at speeds up to 140 mph, punctuated with the driver letting out a "woo!"

"He likes to drive recklessly, he likes to race," Bokosky said.

A Huntington Beach police officer who pulled the defendant over for speeding gave him a "stern warning," and former co-workers also advised him at one point to "stop driving like an idiot," she said.

Fakhimi told jurors the Evidence Data Recorder in the defendant's car showed he was attempting to brake before the crash.

"He did apply the brakes. He did try to stop. He did try to swerve," the defense attorney said, arguing that there is no evidence of Abraham racing another car aside from the claims of two witnesses.

"It would be impossible for another car to be racing my client without leaving any physical evidence," such as skid marks, Fakhimi said.

Abraham was 20 years old at the time and had received his license without the benefit of classes or traffic school, his attorney said.

Megan Hampton admonished Abraham at the sentencing, for his current and previous behavior in court.

"Watching your behavior during both trials clearly shows that you could care less about taking the lives of my mother and daughter," she said. "The day the guilty verdict was given and you were being put in handcuffs, yelling you wanted to hug your little brother one more time struck a nerve with me. You will get the opportunity to see and hold your little brother again, but you didn't stop to think that my family or myself will never again get to hold or hug my daughter or my mother again."

Megan Hampton said her mother was "selfless and such a loving and caring person. She was my best friend, the glue to our family and she was our everything." She added that "there are no words to describe the emotional pain my family and I have gone through and will continue to struggle with for the rest of our days with the death of my daughter. No parent should have to make the decision to take their child off life support."

City News Service contributed to this report.