Crime & Safety

RPV Teen Pleads Guilty in Crash That Killed Marymount College Professor

Ho Jai Lee, 18, faces a maximum two-year state prison term.

A Rancho Palos Verdes teen pleaded guilty today to a vehicular manslaughter charge that stems from a December 2009 crash that killed Jamel Abdelhamid Kammoun, a Marymount College mathematics professor.

Ho Jai Lee, 18, faces a maximum two-year state prison term. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19 at Torrance Superior Court. He'll undergo a 90-day diagnostic examination by state prison officials, according to Deputy District Attorney Don Syn.

The Dec. 20, 2009 crash killed Jamel Abdelhamid Kammoun, 49, the father of three young children.

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Authorities said Lee—who was 17 at the time of the crash—lost control of his car, ricocheted off a wall and hit Kammoun, who was out for a morning walk.

Kammoun was posthumously honored as 2010 Educator of the Year at the Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Peninsula's Educator of the Year awards ceremony last November.

Find out what's happening in Palos Verdeswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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