Driver who fatally hit Frisco mother gets 5-year sentence
The man convicted and sentenced for hitting and killing a Frisco mother on the Dallas North Tollway plans to appeal the ruling.
Rabyl Nathoo will spend the next five years in prison for hitting and killing Julia Zaman last year. She was one exit away from getting off the tollway when she stopped to help out another driver who had crashed. While she was out of her car, Nathoo struck her with his Camaro.
Julia’s family says they're happy to put this behind them. They hope Nathoo will learn something from what happened and keep it with him beyond the five years in prison. He also faces a $10,000 fine for criminally negligent homicide.
“There are no winners today,” Nadeem Zaman, the victim’s husband said. “But it is important that these punishments are useful and that they don't go to waste just because it's a punishment. We should learn something from it.”
Julia’s family and friends walking out of the Collin County courthouse on Wednesday with some sense of justice. It's been a little over a year since she died, leaving behind her husband and teenage daughter.
“She was this fantastic human being,” Nadeem said. “Her quality as a human being far exceeded as her being a wife or a sister or a daughter or a mother or a friend.”
Julia was on the Dallas North Tollway near Sam Rayburn Tollway in March 2017 when she stopped to help a pregnant woman who'd been in a car accident. According to the police report, Nathoo was going 125 miles an hour before he swerved to avoid hitting the vehicle from that accident and went across three lanes of traffic and hitting Julia.
“It is not just about him. It's about what he has done to others,” Nadeem said. “And I hope he learns that.”
Julia’s husband addressed Nathoo directly in court speaking about taking his 16-year old autistic daughter to visit her mother's grave every week and wishing Nathoo finds some peace. Throughout it, Nathoo kept his eyes down as Nadeem spoke to him.
“I was disappointed, but I'm still hopeful that he heard me,” Nadeem said. “A punishment I think it loses its impact. And I wanted to make sure that when he goes through the punishment that he realizes what he's done and the impact of his actions.”
Nathoo's attorney did not want to make a statement on camera but said they will most likely appeal the conviction.
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