A Wisconsin teenager who hit and killed a woman with her own car after attempting to stop him from stealing another vehicle has been sentenced to decades in prison.
Jayden Adams, now 16, pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide and taking a vehicle without consent on Wednesday, after initially facing several felony charges in the death of 47-year-old Sunita Balogun.
Adams, who was 13 years old at the time of the October 2021 crime, admitted to running over Balogun when she tried to stop him and four other teenagers from stealing another car from a hotel parking lot.
According to court records, Adams was originally charged with six felonies, including first-degree reckless homicide, hit-and-run resulting in death, taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent by use or threat of force, and knowingly operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, causing death.
A criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime contained a statement from one of the other teenagers involved in the incident. After identifying Adams in hotel surveillance photos, he explained that the group had gone out that night “with the intent to steal a vehicle.”
While the kids were attempting to steal a red Hyundai, Balogun pulled up next to them in her Jeep SUV. She then parked her SUV and got out to confront them again.
The teen who provided the statement stated that he and another teen fled the scene, while Adams and two other teens remained behind to argue with Balogun.
One of the other teens punched Balogun in the face, and Adams got into the driver’s seat of her SUV and “kicked the door into the victim’s face,” apparently after Balogun fell to the ground. Adams then ran over her head.
Several of the teens returned to the car with Adams, who then fled the scene. When asked by his friends, “What did you do?” Adams replied that he had “killed that lady.”
According to the criminal complaint, another teenager told police she yelled at Adams, “Jayden, you runned [sic] her over, there’s blood gushing out of her head.” Another teenager told police that they never checked on Balogun, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Balogun’s Jeep was found the following day.
Adams, who was tried as an adult, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision, with credit for time served.
