Stephen Dolan faced sentencing today almost a year-and-a-half after he struck and killed 16-year-old CJ Hackett on McLean Ave with his van after a night of heavy drinking. Judge James McCarty rendered a 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 year sentence for Dolan’s confessed crimes.
The death of CJ Hackett
On Aug. 2nd, 2022, Christopher “CJ” Hackett lost his life in a tragic hit-and-run incident in Yonkers. The night began innocently with CJ and friends riding around Coyne Park. AJ Solieri, CJ’s best friend, witnessed the accident around 12:20 a.m. when a van struck CJ near a shopping mall, leaving him gravely injured. Despite emergency medical efforts, CJ succumbed to extensive injuries the next day. Remembered as a kind and loving soul, CJ’s funeral was held on August 12th.
Authorities arrested City of Yonkers DPW worker Stephen Dolan the day after the accident. Area surveillance footage and the damaged state of Dolan’s van led to his indictment. On Feb. 3rd, he pled not guilty to the charge of manslaughter.
#JusticeForCJ
In the following months, family and friends of CJ became disheartened with the direction of the prosecution. Through public events and an online petition, loved ones of the late teen rejected a potential plea deal that could see Dolan serve only a short sentence. “I want him in jail obviously. I want him in jail for a long time, not for two years. Killed too good of a kid to go away for two years,” said CJ’s father, Christopher Dolan.
Nonetheless, Dolan did strike a deal and submitted a guilty plea to second-degree vehicular manslaughter on Sept. 14th. The following week he surrendered to authorities to begin serving his to-be-determined final sentence.
Sentencing
The family of CJ Hackett, supported by best friend AJ’s family, and a bus load of students from Stepinac High School, attended the sentencing in White Plains court on Thursday Dec. 14th. The crowd listened as the judge handed down a sentence of 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years imprisonment for Stephen Dolan.
CJ’s aunt, Michelle Kern, read a victim statement that left almost all in the audience teary-eyed. And Dolan himself took the opportunity to apologize and promise to use his time imprisoned to better himself. Though, one of the teens in the attendance rejected that apology with an audible call out to, “rot in hell” as officers escorted Dolan back to prison.
CJ’s loved ones were not the only ones dismayed by the sentence. The District Attorney’s office also issued a statement which read, in part, “While we are disappointed that the Court’s promised sentence today will not reflect our recommendation, the defendant, Stephen Dolan, is going to prison.”
With the sentence delivered and no legal battles left, the family and friends of the young victim hope to seek solace in their shared love of a bright young man taken from this world far too soon.
