Mike Wolanin | The Republic Shiam Sunder Shankar Subramanian steps out of a Bartholomew County Sheriff transport van at the Bartholomew County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing in the death of Columbus East student Lily Streeval in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Subramanian struck and killed Streeval, 16, with his car as she attempted to board her school bus in August of last year.
An engineer from India convicted of two felonies for the hit-and-run death of a Columbus East High School student last year received what is essentially a four-year prison term during a sentencing hearing Thursday.
A Bartholomew Circuit Court jury found Shiam Sunder Shankara Subramanian, 26, guilty Sept. 15 on two felony counts in the death of 16-year-old Lilly J. Streeval on Aug. 30, 2021. She was hit by the defendant’s car while trying to get on a school bus on South Gladstone Avenue, investigators said.
Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin ordered the defendant to serve six years in prison for leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury, a Level 4 felony. Two of those years would be served on probation, she said.
Benjamin also sentenced Subramanian to three years in prison for passing a school bus while the arm signal is extended causing death, a Level 5 felony. But that sentence was ordered to be served concurrently (at the same time) as the first sentence.
The judge also said it is likely that Subramanian will be deported back to his own country once he completes his sentence.
Benjamin said many people believe judges have the freedom to impose any sentence they wish. However, the reality is that the factors that determine each sentence must be laid out, or the judge risks having the sentence overturned by an appeals court.
The judge was referring to mitigating factors that work in the defendant’s favor for a shorter sentence, as well as aggravating factors that could result in a more lengthy prison term.
In this case, Benjamin said mitigating factors outweighed aggravating factors. Subramanian has no criminal history, no record of substance abuse, has never caused a traffic accident and shows genuine remorse, according to a pre-sentence report read aloud in court by Benjamin.
Those who wrote the report also stated the defendant is not likely to commit a similar act again, and will likely respond positively to a short-term sentence.
“Had I known that someone was on the road, I would have stopped and not hit Lily,” Subramanian said in a prepared statement. “I want the Streeval family to know I am extremely remorseful. It was a tragic mistake.”
At one point, the defendant’s voice broke and his eyes teared up before he regained his composure.
Short excerpts from 31 letters that express support for the defendant were also read in open court. Among other things, the letters state Subramanian graduated among the top 10 students in his class, has a reputation of volunteering to help others and even took time off to care for a relative who was dying of cancer.
Benjamin also read a request from a letter urging her to remember Subramanian has a future ahead of him. “Unlike Lily,” the judge said while looking at the defendant. “He has a future. Lily does not.”
Streeval also did extremely well in school, and had plans for college that would likely have led to a promising future. She was described as lively, funny and a joy to be around.
In a letter to the court, Lily’s father, Mark Streeval, described his daughter as his best friend.
“When Lily died, I died internally,” the father wrote.
The outpouring of anger from many Bartholomew County residents regarding this case stems from Subramanian’s failure to stop after Lily was hit and passing the school bus, as well as three other vehicles, to flee without finding out what had happened.
“Many parents are thinking ‘Oh, my God. That could have been my child’,” Benjamin said.
But there were two times during the hearing when Benjamin admonished social media for making extremely harsh judgements and advocating a maximum sentence. The judge, who said she read hundreds of comments concerning the case, said no social media commentator attended September’s trial nor were in the courtroom Thursday.
“He is not an evil person as they have made him out to be,” Benjamin said. “(The defendant) did not intentionally kill Lily.”
But in listing aggravating circumstances, Benjamin said she found it difficult to believe Subramanian’s story that he thought he hit an animal and was driving home to report the matter over the phone.
Nobody at the scene, including students, the bus driver, witnesses in other vehicles and members of the victim’s family will ever forget Lily’s tragic death, Benjamin said. Nor will those in the courtroom forget video footage of Streeval’s death that was shown to jurors.
While the video’s sight lines were poor and the video has the sound of the defendant vehicle’s brakes, evidence indicates Subramanian did not slow down as he was approaching the bus with the flashing lights, the judge said. The victim’s body was in the defendant’s view and looked nothing like a deer or other animal, she said. However, the defendant kept driving with only a small hole in a cracked windshield to look through, Benjamin said.
During the trial, defense attorney, Jennifer Lukemeyer argued that Subramanian was not thinking clearly, adding that his questionable actions were the result of “trying to get his head wrapped around what happened.”
A civil lawsuit filed by the victim’s mother, Teresa Burbrink, over her daughter’s death is currently pending.
