Saturday April 19, 2025
Toronto (HOL) — A Somali-born man was sentenced to one to three years in a New York state prison on Friday after being convicted of reckless driving that killed a 9-year-old girl in a 2023 crash.
Abdirashid Noor, 53, of Syracuse, was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter, third-degree assault, and several traffic offences, including reckless driving, unsafe passing, and speeding. His conviction stems from a head-on collision on June 28, 2023, that killed Charlee King and injured her mother, Jordan King, in Madison County.
The crash occurred around 6:30 a.m. when Noor attempted to pass a line of vehicles on Route 31 in the town of Sullivan. His vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and struck King’s car. Charlee, seated in the back seat, died at the scene. Her mother suffered a broken wrist.
At Friday’s sentencing, Madison County Judge St. Michael Leger ordered Noor to serve between one and three years in prison and revoked his driver’s license for six months.
“In state prison, you need to reflect upon your reckless actions that day and spend the rest of your days somehow making up for what you did,” Leger told Noor in court.
King, supported by more than 20 relatives and friends in the courtroom, delivered an emotional statement during the hearing.
“Charlee will remain 9 years old forever while the world moves on,” she said. “Every day since she died, I wake up and wish I was dead too, because the person I loved most is no longer here.”
Sitting beside his defence attorney and a Somali-language interpreter, Noor addressed the court briefly. “I came to this country to survive, not to harm anyone,” he said. “I’m a parent too. I’m very sorry.”
Noor fled Somalia’s civil war and spent years in a refugee camp before resettling in the United States. His case drew attention from local communities and Somali diaspora members in upstate New York.
Madison County prosecutors pushed for a harsher sentence. Senior Assistant District Attorney J. Sam Rodgers said the office had urged Noor to plead guilty to the top charge of manslaughter, which could have resulted in a sentence of up to nine years. According to District Attorney William Gabor, Noor was initially offered a plea deal of two to six years but declined. The court later reduced the offer to one to three years, which Noor accepted.
In a statement released in December 2024, King criticized the reduced sentencing proposal as “a slap in the face,” arguing that Noor had benefited from refusing to plead guilty.
As the sentence was read, family members sobbed quietly. Noor was taken into custody in handcuffs by Madison County sheriff’s deputies.
“I believe Mr. Noor made a series of conscious choices that morning—each one dangerous,” King said. “And it’s because of those choices that my daughter is gone, and my entire world has been shattered.”
