Mom Of Teen Killed In Hit-And-Run: 'I Have Been Sentenced To Life'

AMAGANSETT, NY — The heartbroken parents of an 18-year-old who died in an Amagansett hit-and-run crash last year stood outside the courthouse before the driver's sentencing Thursday, struggling to hold back tears, his mother clutching a large framed photo of her son and his soft, favorite T-shirt.

Daniel Campbell, 20, of Montauk, pleaded guilty in August to an indictment charge of felony leaving the scene of a crash with injuries before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro at the Arthur J. Cromarty Criminal Court complex. The crash killed Devesh Samtani, 18, who had just arrived in the Hamptons with plans to study at New York University.

Campbell was initially slated to serve no jail time.

However, according to Campbell's attorney Edward Burke, Jr., on Thursday, the judge sentenced Campbell to 90 days in jail, 90 days of community service, and five years' probation.

"He is basing his change of view based upon my client's previous driving record," Burke said.

Devesh's parents and family have all advocated for jail time for Campbell. But standing outside in the bright sunshine Thursday, Kishore Samtani, Devesh's father, said in the end, the pain was forever.

"My son is never going to be here," he told Patch. "If he gets three months, six months, it doesn't make a difference to us." What he hopes, Samtani said, was that Campbell's time in jail can help him to change the course of his life. "I hope this boy understands that he's done something wrong. I hope in his life he does something for the community, something to help other kids."

Gazing off into the sky, Samtani said: "I am trying not to cry. I have to be strong for my family." If he could speak with his son, one more time, Samtani said he'd tell him, "Just be happy, that's all. I know he's watching us, trying to carry on with life."

Samtani discussed the foundation set up in his son's honor and said he would be honored forever with education, music, "every single thing that he liked."

Mala Samtani, Devesh' mother, walked up to the courthouse with family and close friends. Both parents said that a crowd of their son's friends had flown in from across the country in support, with more than two dozen in attendance.

His friends, Mala said, have carried on his dreams of creating a clothing company,

Campbell was able to speak to Devesh' parents in the courtroom, his attorney said. "Hopefully yesterday's proceedings give some clousre to the Samtani family, as my client was finally able to address them directly in court. It was an extremely emotional day for all involved and I am confident that my cleint will demonstrate compassion and remorse as he serves his sentence."

According to the Daily Mail, Campbell showed remorse: "I wish I could've met with the family to tell them how sorry I was for ruining all of their lives. I am sorry for all the pain and devastation,' he told Devesh's parents, according to the Daily Mail post. "There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about the agony you have gone through. . . I would give everything to change that night and to change the outcome. I prayed every single night when he was in the hospital . . know you may never forgive me but know how remorseful and sorry I am."

Before court, Mala told Patch that the pain of his loss is forever. "I think I have been sentenced to life in prison — without my son, I have been sentenced."

The jail time, she said, would serve mainly for Campbell to reflect on what he'd done. "But really, I feel as though I have more of a sentence than him," she said. "His life will go back to normal. I'll still be sleeping with my son's favorite shirt."

Outside the. court, Mala carried her son's photo, wrapped in that very T-shirt. Stroking the photo, she said, "Look at him, so handsome. So strong."

She also held one of the "Humble Genes" brand hats her son designed, and which his friends helped to create, even finding the logo he designed on his computer — to keep his legacy strong; all profits will go to charity, she said.

"Nothing will every make me feel bettter until I am reunited with my son — when I take my last breath and join him."

His friends are also devastated by Devesh' death, she said. One also sleeps with a shirt every night, another has a shirt hanging in his wardrobe, so it's the first thing seen every day. "This is the impact he had on people," Mala said.

There will be no closure, Mala added. "Nothing will every make me feel bettter until I am reunited with my son — when I take my last breath and join him."

In court, Mala said she wanted to be her son's voice and say, to Campbell, not only what she had planned to say, but what she knows her son would have said, as well. Speaking for her son, she said, "You stole my life away from me. What did I do to deserve this? I had a full life," she said, her face shadowed by grief. "How could you drive away from me, on that road?"

Her son was hit so hard, she said, he flew into the air, spinning and falling, his shoe thrown off.

She added: "I will stand up for my son."

When asked if she believed her son would forgive Campbell, Mala said: "He would. That's the kind of person my son was. I will not. He took my child."

On Aug. 13, 2021, Devesh, 18, died after the hit-and-run crash in Amagansett four days earlier. The crash happened at 11:35 p.m. on Old Stone Highway near Eastwood Court when Campbell, who was driving north in a 2012 Honda Pilot, struck Devesh, who was walking on the side of the road, police said. Campbell drove off and was arrested at his home at 2:43 a.m. Wednesday morning, police said.

Campbell was arrested and initially charged with leaving the scene of an accident, police said. The SUV he was driving reportedly had 10 people inside. Samtani was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he died, police said.

In January, Campbell was arraigned in Riverhead on the charge one count of leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, a felony, before Judge Richard Ambro, according to his attorney, Burke.

At the arraignment, Omar Almanzar Paramio, attorney for for Samtani-Kurani family, alleged that after the crash, Campbell went home, traded his car for his parents', and went to meet a friend. Paramio said that later, police found that Campbell had checked Long Island bus and train schedules on his phone and said that Campbell's family owned properties in Westchester County and Pennsylvania.

Burke said that Campbell works at his family's clothing store in Montauk and has no prior involvement with the criminal justice system.

"This was a horrible accident, a horrible tragedy," Burke said at that appearance.

Of the initial possibility that Campbell would serve no jail time, Kishore Samtani said, at the time, "We are not happy about it. It's a bad example."

Samtani and his family were adamant that they wanted to see some jail time served, they said. "We are not vengeful people," he said. "But how is this possible? You hit and kill someone and run away and you just walk away scot free? It's not fair."

Jail time, they agreed, would give Campbell time to reconcile "that what he did was wrong"— and also would serve as a deterrent to keep other young people from leaving the scene of a crash.

He and his family have no words, Kishore said. "Our son is not coming back. Their son will always be there, giving them hugs. He'll be in the house."

His wife, she said, doesn't eat, doesn't sleep. "She is shattered," he said.

Only two of the girls in the car that night asked to be let out; those girls took photos of Campbell's license plate, Kishore said.

Of what the loss has meant to his family, Kishore said, "We are finished."

In a previous interview with Patch, Mala said the pain was as vivid as a year ago. "It's the same as Day One. It's the same loss today."

Driving to the Hamptons, exactly one year since she first came with her son a year ago, she relived those moments.

"It's the worst nightmare; we cannot be fine. People say time will heal wounds. That's our son, how can time heal? I was just thinking, as we drove here, that in life, people have problems. If you have a health issue, you get it fixed; if you have financial issues, you get it fixed. When a life is taken, how do you get it fixed? You cannot."

Mala, looking at the tattoo on her husband's arm, she said, "That's my baby. . . I want to go where he is, and not be in this world."

Devesh's cousin Kabir Kurani was with him the night of the hit-and-run. "I remember everything about that night," he said. "I have flashbacks, so there's no way I can forget."

Mala Samtani also shared her unspeakable grief with Patch last year, just two months after her son's death.

"I feel so lost," she said. "The pain is stabbing in my heart, every second. I can't sleep, I can't eat ... People ask me, 'Are you feeling better?' How can I feel better? It's the same loss. My son is still not with me. . . I can't live without him."

Addressing reporters outside the courthouse earlier this year, Burke said he didn't want to speak in "legalese. Simply, on behalf of my clients and his family, we offer our sincere condolences for the loss of Mr. Samtani. It was a horrible, horrible tragedy and we want to express our sorrow. This is something they have wanted to say for many, many months."

Burke added that the roadway where the crash occurred was "extremely narrow, and very dangerous.

Mala, speaking on the loss of her son last year, said he had written and designed a book, "Ash's Birthday Party," to help children navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Samtani's family — the entrepreneurs behind the Hong Kong-based "As Seen on TV" gadgets — worked with New York University to create a scholarship for students in financial need. A foundation has also been created to do good works in his name, his mother said, as her son was committed to helping others. On Thursday, she said an educational foundation set up in his name already has 30 students, and that number will continue to grow.

But despite the plans to honor him, Samtani said was she struggling to survive without her son. "I feel so lost," she said.

At night, Samtani sleeps in her son's bed, his photo beside her, hugging his clothing tightly in her arms. "I wish I could say that this was just a bad dream but as time goes by you realize this was a nightmare," she said. "And it actually happened."