Sessoms pleads guilty in deadly road rage crash | News

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT)- A plea agreement in a deadly Richmond road rage case.

41-year-old Christopher Sessoms has plead guilty to charges related to a deadly road rage crash along Powhite Parkway.

Prosecutors say not only did Sessoms run the other driver off the road, but he also took off and lied to police.

Sessoms plead guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter and hit-and-run charges. He could be facing up to 20 years in prison.

The crash killed 24-year-old Chris Fisher nearly seven months ago.

More than a dozen of Fisher's relatives sat behind the prosecutor. Some cried in court. The prosecutor said this is a tragic case of what happens when misunderstandings on the road turn to rage.

Fisher's family left court in silence.

But in a statement said nothing would bring Chris back and are relieved Sessoms has taken responsibility.

Sessoms told the judge he's guilty of the crash on I-195 that killed the 24-year-old who was on his way to work that fateful morning last September.

"It's a small attempt but he's trying to work his way back and he's asked for their forgiveness," said Bill Linka, Sessoms' attorney.

It's a tragic case of two individuals both on the roadway trying to get to their destinations coming across each other in some form of misunderstanding escalated into anger and obscene gestures," said Prosecutor Tracy Thorne-Begland.
Thorne-Begland said Sessoms was returning to North Carolina with his fiancee when he sped past Fisher at 90 miles per hour, pulled in front of Fisher's car and hit the brakes.

Thorne-Begland said witnesses saw both Sessoms and Fisher aggressively take off with Fisher being pushed and held by Sessoms with his red pick up against the emergency lane.

As that lane narrowed, Thorne-Begland said Fisher's car ran off the road, went up a hill, hit a manhole cover and flew into a Douglasdale bridge pylon.

The prosecutor said Sessoms acknowledged during a police interview he first misled police about who was driving the truck and claims Fisher also used obscene hand gestures before his car went into the bridge and wasn't aware of the accident.

Sessoms' attorney pointed out in court that neither vehicle touched and said more will come out at sentencing.

"This is a tragedy and frankly had calmer heads prevailed in either car we wouldn't be here today," said Linka.

Sessoms' fiancée, Charity Dees, is expected in court later this month for a felony hit and run charge.

In exchange for the guilty plea, the prosecutor withdrew two charges against Sessoms: death by reckless driving and driving without a license.

Sessoms will be sentenced in July.

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