James Lawrence Shaheen was sentenced to six months in jail for the hit-and-run that left Gabriella Golden paralyzed.

A sentence after a guilty plea is the judgment on the count he admitted. The count is failing to stop, not a homicide charge. WDIV reported Golden suffered a severe spinal injury. The six-month jail term and 18 months of probation are what the judge imposed on the leaving-the-scene plea.

WDIV reported that Golden, of Fenton, was riding a longboard on Hartland Road around 11:20 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2024, when the Mini Cooper crossed the center line and struck her. The driver fled. She was left with a spinal injury that paralyzed her from the waist down. Her family told the station she also suffered a dislocated shoulder and injuries to her liver, spleen, and carotid artery, and that people who stopped at the scene kept her alive. Law & Crime reported neighborhood cameras caught the impact and the car leaving, and that Shaheen pleaded guilty to failure to stop at the scene of an accident causing injury.

Staten Island Live, citing WDIV, reported that Shaheen told investigators in a written statement that he was petting his dog when he hit her, then panicked and left. He contacted a police chief he knew, and that chief told him to turn himself in. Police found the Mini Cooper behind a barn at his home. The windshield was damaged, and hair was stuck in the weather seal. WDIV reported he was charged April 14, 2025, posted a $15,000 bond, and was sentenced last week to a minimum of six months in jail followed by 18 months of probation.

The plea is a conviction on the failure-to-stop count. The injuries are what her family and the station reported. The jail term is the sentence on that plea. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.