The driver in a 2024 hit-and-run crash that left a Long Beach woman dead agreed to a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and was sentenced to two years in jail.
Mario Acosta listened to the victims’ impact statements on Friday before pleading not guilty to felony hit-and-run resulting in death.
The day after Christmas in 2024, Acosta collided with Nikki Rash’s automobile outside her Long Beach house. She died from her injuries nine days later. According to authorities, Acosta fled to his residence in Northern California, just outside Sacramento, and was later found.
Three weeks ago, the DA’s office dispatched US Marshals to arrest Acosta and hauled him back to Long Beach.
Foster Rash, Rash’s husband, provided a candid victim statement. “You chose to drive at a high speed,” he stated in court. “You opted to disrespect a red light, and your poor decisions murdered Nikki. Then you decided to elude the authorities.”
Acosta wiped away tears as he heard from the victim’s relatives. “I’m here to see the person who took a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a sister,” the victim’s sister, Judith McCaughey, stated. “The Bible says that a sister is worth more than rubies, and I can attest to that.”
Depending on his behavior in prison, Acosta could be released in a year.
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