Julie O'Connor
The Star Ledger

A teenage driver was given a 10-year jail sentence yesterday for a crash in Summit last year that killed his pregnant girlfriend after their car broadsided a tree on a residential street at nearly 90 mph.

Rodney Jefferson, 19, of Summit, was driving with a revoked license. He was charged with vehicular homicide but pleaded guilty in July to aggravated manslaughter as part of a deal with Union County prosecutors and will likely serve his sentence in a youth correctional facility.

Jefferson, who was only slightly hurt in the accident, wiped his eyes while his mother sobbed as the parents of 19-year-old Julia Ghiretti stood to face him in an Elizabeth courtroom.

Mary Ghiretti told Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim how she and her husband, both "very private people," cannot find the words to describe how it felt to lose the daughter they waited for two years to adopt from El Salvador at age 6 -- or forgive the boyfriend who was speeding from police.

"I didn't want him to say he was sorry, because I don't believe he is," Ghiretti said of Jefferson. "I didn't want to hear him say he loved Julia, because he didn't "¦ Obviously, he didn't feel she was worth his getting into trouble with the police."

Jefferson rose to haltingly tell the judge he did love Julia Ghiretti. "I can't explain how I feel every day when I know she won't be there," he said slowly. "I know saying sorry won't bring her back, but I really am sorry."

He had been driving his girlfriend's car after having his license revoked for a conviction on driving while intoxicated. He and Ghiretti, who grew up in nearby New Providence, had been living together in a Summit apartment.

Jefferson was at the wheel on November 2, 2008, a Sunday afternoon, because Ghiretti was feeling sick, according to defense attorney Leslie Sinemus. Sinemus said her client decided to speed after seeing a police officer who had stopped him for a previous incident.

The black Acura spun out of control near an intersection, then traveled sideways across several lawns before slamming into the tree on the passenger side, investigators said. The police officer arrived to discover the crash on Ashland Road and saw Jefferson running away. The officer caught up to arrest him.

Ghiretti was airlifted to Morristown Memorial Hospital, where she died five hours later.

While Julia Ghiretti was barely over 5 feet tall, she showed a self-confident flair on the basketball and volleyball courts, dance floor and in her sense of style, said her father, John. She had been attending Union County Vocational School with hopes of obtaining a cosmetology license.

"She lost her focus on her dream when she met Rodney Jefferson," he said yesterday. "Julia liked to believe she was street-smart, but in truth, she was naive."

Jefferson's mother, Evelyn, told the court her son made a terrible choice but was devoted to Julia and had planned to join the military to better care for her and their unborn child. "It was always about Julia," Evelyn Jefferson said. "We all loved her."

In imposing his sentence, the judge said Jefferson made a "conscious choice" to speed behind the wheel.

"There's no doubt in my mind that as Mr. Jefferson sits here, he's sorry for what happened," Peim said. "But there was a death, and the defendant was responsible."

Julie O'Connor may be reached at (908) 351-7261 or joconnor@starledger.com