Mario Rosario was sentenced to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service in Bronx Criminal Court at the Bronx Hall of Justice on Thursday for his role in a scooter crash that took his four-year-old son’s life.  

Rosario was riding a motorized scooter with his son aboard during the evening hours of Aug. 15, 2022 when he collided with a Toyota Camry while making an illegal U-turn. His son was thrown from the scooter in the incident and died from severe head injuries.  

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the incident. 

Victim impact statements from the mother, Najera Roberts, and grandmother of the deceased child were full of emotion, at times seemingly talking directly to Rosario.  

The family says they believe the justice system failed them, and that the scooter Rosario was riding that night was stolen and that he had been previously stopped by police for having his son on the scooter with no helmet.  

Rosario believes says both families have lost in this case, and they both now mourn the loss of their young loved one.