Driver Accused of Killing Family of 4 As They Were on Way to Zoo Says ‘Sorry’ in Court

A San Francisco judge sentenced a woman accused of killing a family of four at a city bus stop to probation two years after the deadly collision happened.

Mary Fong Lau, 80, previously pleaded no contest in connection with the March 16, 2024, crash that killed Matilde Pinto, her husband, Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, and their two young sons, 1-year-old Joaquin and 2-month-old Caue, KRON-TV reported.

Lau allegedly sped into a bus stop located at the Muni Metro West Portal Station, where the family was waiting to catch a ride to the San Francisco Zoo, according to the TV station. Attorneys for the family’s loved ones have said that Lau was speeding at a rate of more than 70 mph.

She was taken into custody on several charges including vehicular manslaughter and felony reckless driving causing bodily injury, the San Francisco Police Department said in a news release issued two days after the crash.

The collision immediately killed Diego and Joaquin, according to the New York Times. Matilde died at a hospital. Following her death, Matilde and Diego’s baby, who had been on life support, died.

In sentencing Lau to two years of probation and 200 years of community service on Friday, March 20, Judge Bruce Chan, of San Francisco Superior Court, said that he considered Lau’s age, her lack of a criminal history and how she has shown remorse, the New York Times reported.

Several family members and friends of Matilde and Diego attended the hearing, where an interpreter translated the hearing from English to Cantonese for Lau, according to the newspaper.

Lau addressed the family members in English and said, “I want to say to your family, ‘Sorry,’” the New York Times reported.

She then said sorry three additional times, while bowing, according to the newspaper.

“There are no good outcomes for such an immense tragedy,” Lau’s defense attorney, Seth Morris, said in a statement, ABC7 reported. “Everyone who came to court felt the pain that is present in the community and from these families and we feel it, too. Mrs. Lau feels the pain of this tragic loss. She has taken accountability by pleading no contest.”

Diego’s sister, Denise Olivera, told KRON-TV that her brother and his wife were celebrating their four-year wedding anniversary when the family was killed.

“Diego and his family were simply going to the zoo on a Sunday morning, celebrating their anniversary,” Denise told the TV station

“The consequences … for her actions are not a true match for the size of the tragedy,” Olivera’s sister, Denise added of Lau.

Lau will be eligible to renew her license after three years, ABC7 reported. Morris, however, said that Lau does not have plans to drive in the future.