Judge abides by plea of suspended sentence, three years probation.
Matthew Russell of Waterloo, father of Jennifer Russell, points at Elijah Seals as he makes his victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing of Seals at the Johnson County Courthouse in Iowa City on Monday. Seals was sentenced to three years probation on a 10-year suspended sentence for homicide by vehicle – reckless driving. Seals and Kesean Ford were allegedly drag racing when they crashed into 22-year-old Jennifer Russell’s car on May 27, 2023. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — A heartbroken Waterloo father on Monday chastised and cursed an 18-year-old Iowa City man who, along with another teen, caused a fatal crash that killed his 22-year-old daughter on May 27, 2023.
Matt Russell, father of Jennifer Russell, chastised Elijah Seals, during Seals’ sentencing, for leaving the crash scene and never showing any remorse for drag racing that night with Kesean Ford, who also is charged. Seals and Ford crashed into Jennifer’s vehicle, which was stopped at the intersection of S. Seventh Avenue and E. Court Street.
We have suffered so much pain and sorrow,” Matt Russell said. “We lost a big part of our life. I hate you and wish you were dead. She was the best daughter. Rot in hell.”
Tyler Russell, Jennifer’s brother, in his victim impact statement, accused Seals of taking a “coward’s way out” for not admitting guilt, instead taking an Alford plea. The death of his sister has shattered his and his families’ future. It turned their “world upside down.”
The brother said he hoped the “agony” Seals caused will “haunt you for the rest of your life. Hope the memory of her haunts you every day.”
“She was here and then she was gone on that horrific night,” said Kelly Russell, Jennifer’s mother, while tearing up throughout her statement.
Kelly was on the phone with Jennifer, who was using a Bluetooth device to talk on her way home from work that night. She had just started as a manager at Jethro’s BBQ in Coralville. Kelly Russell said she didn’t know what happened to her daughter. She heard noises in the background and a man yelling. She thought her daughter was being abducted.
She and her husband were panicked. They jumped in the car and started tracking their daughter’s phone and driving to Iowa City. Then, her husband got a call from the hospital saying Jennifer had been in a crash and she didn’t survive.
“I think about that cruel and unbelievable moment she was at that intersection,” Kelly Russell said. “What were you thinking? Did you see her car? And you walked away without injury. So unfair.”
They had to wait 18 months and “this wasn’t the justice we were seeking. This wasn’t an accident. Never an accident. It was violent, senseless, horrific crash.”
Many family members and friends filled one half the courtroom on Monday. Seals’ family and friends also attended the sentencing.
