<body><div>A southern California judge sentenced a man to six months in jail after he struck and killed a 12-year-old girl with a jet ski.Arsanyous Refat Ghaly, 20, entered a guilty plea to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence Thursday over the death of the 12-year-old Savannah Peterson, which occurred last year. Peterson died while paddleboarding in Mission Bay in San Diego in July 2023 when Ghaly struck her with the jet ski he was driving, which was zooming across the water between 47-53 mph. The area of the accident was a strict 5 mph zone.The defense tried to swat that claim but was shut down. The adolescent suffered several injuries including blunt force trauma to the head.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2eOmr7_0wDVrCgo00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2eOmr7_0wDVrCgo00" width="1200" height="717" ><figcaption>Ghaly entered a guilty plea to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence Thursday ( Image: NBC)</figcaption></figure>Ghaly plead guilty, meaning he may be subject to the following: a six-month term in county jail must be served before he engages in the work furlough program for 50 days. Lastly, he will be placed on probation for two years, according to NBC. The 20-year-old was arrested last November but bailed out and will stay that way until his official sentencing next month. Peterson's family has sued Ghaly, the city and county San Diego, claiming their loved one's death was wrongful. The suit points fingers at lifeguards, who the family says ultimately allowed Ghaly to "operate the jet ski at an excessive rate of speed and out of control in the direction of Decedent until the Incident occurred."Allegedly, the lifeguards witnessed the defendant and his friends carelessly speeding on the jet skis and told them to slow down about 10 minutes before the 12-year-old was hit. The two people who rented the water vehicles to Ghaly, who doesn't possess a California Boaters' card are also named in the lawsuit.The company the jet skies were rented from, OfferUp, also appears in the lawsuit. John Kerr, the lifeguard, claimed he stopped the 20-year-old at one point to warn him about speeding, according to testimony from a preliminary hearing earlier this year. He said Ghaly was driving at an "incredibly high rate of speed" near the cove, going way beyond the 5 mph speed limit.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3IOmjb_0wDVrCgo00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3IOmjb_0wDVrCgo00" width="1200" height="799" ><figcaption>Peterson's family filed numerous lawsuits against people involves as well as the renting company ( Image: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>Moments later, according to Kerr, another man riding an identical jet ski was pulled over for speeding as well. He was reportedly the 20-year-old's cousin who was said to have been acting rudely when the lifeguard asked for his boater's card. Ghaly then jetted to the area where the second boater was stopped.He narrowly avoided clashing his boat into the second man's. Kerr said he told the men: "You’re gonna hurt somebody or you’re gonna hurt yourselves."</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

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Jet skier, 20, gets 'light sentence' for killing 12-year-old girl while 'speeding' in restricted zone

A southern California judge sentenced a man to six months in jail after he struck and killed a 12-year-old girl with a jet ski. Arsanyous Refat Ghaly, 20, entered a guilty plea to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence Thursday over the death of the 12-year-old Savannah Peterson, which occurred last year. Peterson died while paddleboarding in Mission Bay in San Diego in July 2023 when Ghaly struck her with the jet ski he was driving, which was zooming across the water between 47-53 mph. The area of the accident was a strict 5 mph zone.