The driver in a 2024 hit-and-run crash that left a Long Beach woman dead accepted a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Mario Acosta listened to victims’ impact statements on Friday and pleaded no contest to felony hit-and-run resulting in death.
The day after Christmas in 2024, Acosta crashed into Nikki Rash’s car near her Long Beach home. She died of her injuries nine days later. According to police, Acosta fled to his home in Northern California, just outside of Sacramento, and was later found.
The DA’s office sent U.S. Marshals to arrest Acosta and was brought back to Long Beach three weeks ago.
Rash’s husband, Foster Rash, didn’t hold back during his victim statement.
“You chose to operate your car at an excessive speed,” he said in court. “You chose to disregard a red light, and your bad choices killed Nikki. Then, you chose to evade the authorities.”
Acosta wiped away a tear as he heard from the victim’s family.
“I’m here to see the person who took a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a sister,” said the victim’s sister Judith McCaughey. “The Bible says that a sister is worth more than rubies, and I can attest to that.”
Depending on his conduct in prison, Acosta could be released in a year.
