Guilty Plea, No Jail Time, Revoked License For Driver Who Killed Fort Greene Boy In 2013

Fifteen months after nine-year-old Lucian Merryweather was killed by an out-of-control car on a DeKalb Avenue sidewalk, the car’s driver, Anthony Byrd, 60, has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide. Although he will face no jail time, he may serve part or all of his 20 days of community service in cleaning up jail cells, and he will be off the road for the duration of his five years of probation.

The sentencing/punishment was agreed to by Merryweather’s family, who told the Daily News that their “bright and beautiful son was killed in a preventable event and the sole person that is responsible for this tragedy is being held responsible.”

Assistant district attorney Craig Esswein said in court the family “recognized that sending him to jail is not going to solve anything or bring their son back.”

Instead, he added, they wanted Byrd off the road.

Byrd was not drunk, speeding, running red lights or fleeing the scene, Esswein added, noting that “what you see is rather bad driving, poor judgement, poor control of the car, possible pedal misapplication. There is no smoking gun here.”