A Florida woman who killed a beloved grandmother in a hit-and-run refused to apologize or acknowledge the victim’s family after being sentenced to only four years in prison.
Patricia Garner’s family was in attendance for the sentencing of Sharon Cox on Tuesday after she had pleaded guilty to running down and killing their loved one and injuring two others in the parking lot of the Miami Gardens community center in 2023, NBC 6 reported.
However, Cox, 65, stayed silent at sentencing — offering no apology to Garner’s heartbroken family — a moment that frustrated relatives after months of outcry to make sure she was held accountable for her actions.
“Ms. Cox didn’t even stand up and say that she was sorry,” Sandra Welch, Garner’s sister-in-law, told the outlet outside the courtroom. “She didn’t say one word.”
The family’s outrage over Garner’s death intensified earlier this year when they discovered Miami-Dade State Attorney’s prosecutors offered Cox a plea deal that would only land her in prison for one year.
Prosecutors later withdrew that plea deal and offered a new agreement calling for four years behind bars after the family and community publicly criticized the original offer.
“You have to fight for your own loved one,” Garner’s brother, Bruce Baskin, said.
“The system is not going to fight for your loved one — you have to fight. Patricia was not here to fight for herself.”
Even with the revised plea deal, Garner’s family insists the punishment isn’t strong enough to send a message.
“The community needs to be aware that people are running over people every day and leaving them laying on the street,” Garner’s sister, Allie Mobley, said.
“To get only the amount of time she got for killing her, it hurts.”
However, while they did not receive an apology from Cox, the family said they had forgiven her for killing their loved one.
“I’m a Christian,” Welch told the outlet. “But at least in your heart, just say that you’re sorry. She didn’t even show remorse.”
But Mobley said that a day doesn’t go by without the entire family missing Garner.
“We will always miss her,” Mobley said.
As part of the plea deal, Cox will remain on probation for two years after her release.
Her driver’s license has also been revoked for five years, and she will be required to attend traffic school and complete 100 hours of community service.
“For every family member in every criminal case, the pain of victimization always cuts deep,” the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office told NBC 6 in a statement.
“We understand that though this resolution is what the law allows in this case and had been accepted by the victim’s family, no sentence can ever lessen the loss of a loved one.”
The office added that it hopes Garner’s family “can begin their grieving process and find peace” now that Cox has been sentenced.
Cox’s attorney, Andrew Rier, said that the case reached “an appropriate resolution where none of the parties involved were fully satisfied.”
“This was a tough case, a tragic accident, and we hope this finality can bring closure to the victim’s family,” he said.
