- Angelina Kauffman, 42, from Hinchinbrook, NSW, lost her daughter Alina, 24, and son Ernesto, 15, in a road collision
- After feeling the scene, killer driver Johnson Kokozian filmed himself eating KFC and shared the video on Snapchat
- Kokozian was sentenced to nine years in prison over their deaths, but Angelina is calling for tougher sentences for drivers who kill
Here she shares her story in her own words
My children Alina, then 24, Ayeanna, 17, and Ernesto, 15, were my whole world, and our house always felt full of joy.
A single mum, I was just 16 when I had Alina.
While I was a young mum with a lot to learn, it was love at first sight.
As a child, she lit up every room with her infectious smile.
Sweet, caring and with a love of animals, she danced up a storm and sang with the most angelic voice.
When her sister Ayeanna was born in December 2005, followed by her brother Ernesto in January 2008, Alina was a doting sibling.
By then, we’d moved from San Diego, US, to Sydney, for a fresh start after I split with their dad when I was five months pregnant with Ernesto.
Raised by an army of women, he grew up to be a gentle soul.
He and the girls would carry groceries for the elderly or assist them crossing the street.
‘When I grow up, I want to be a social worker,’ Ernesto would say, while my sweet, strong Ayeanna dreamed of being a vet.
Alina also loved caring for others, and together she and I studied nursing.
Seeing my bubbly and boisterous girl show her tender side with patients during practice placement made my heart swell with pride.
In August 2023, when Ernesto was 15, he was stoked when he got a casual job at Kmart.
I’d regularly head there at the end of his shift to bring him home for a family dinner.
‘They still hadn’t arrived home.’
But in September that year, Alina stopped me as I reached for my car keys.
‘I can get him, Mum,’ she offered, giving me a kiss on the cheek as she headed out the door.
At 9.14pm, my girl called to say she had Ernesto with her in the car.
‘Drive safe. I love you,’ I told her.
‘We love you too!’ Alina sang over the line.
The drive home from Kmart was usually about seven minutes.
So when Alina and Ernesto still hadn’t arrived home at 9.30pm, I called back.
Ernesto’s phone rang out and, eerily, Alina’s went straight to voicemail.
Something is wrong, I thought, my stomach swirling.
My children always answered their calls – this wasn’t like them.
Worried, I raced upstairs to Ayeanna, who was able to pinpoint their location on her phone.
She told me her siblings were on Sadleir Avenue – just 50 metres away from our home.
I just knew I had to get to them.
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Rushing out of the house barefoot, we sprinted down the road, turning a corner to see a flood of police lights and tape.
I couldn’t see the accident ahead, but I knew in my heart my sweet babies were involved.
‘That’s my children!’ I screamed to an officer, providing the car model and plate number, with Ayeanna behind me.
‘I’m so sorry,’ the policewoman replied, shaking her head.
‘But they’re dead.’
I felt my legs collapse beneath me.
‘No!’ I wailed.
Ayeanna was in shock.
‘I felt numb.’
It couldn’t be true…
But it was.
As my children’s lifeless bodies were driven to the morgue, I felt numb.
My kids had been taken from me in a car crash.
Police suspected there’d been another vehicle involved, with the driver fleeing the scene.
At the morgue, hot tears stained my face as I hugged my babies close for one final time.
On Saturday afternoon – less than 24 hours later – a man named Johnson Kokozian, then 20, was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, and failing to assist, among other charges, though he claimed someone else was behind the wheel.
I was horrified to learn that after he and his passengers fled the scene, he’d filmed himself eating KFC, sharing the video on Snapchat.
‘This is the last KFC I’ll be eating for another 20 years,’ he said, making light of his predicted punishment for killing my children.
It made me sick to know he was enjoying himself, while my angels would never see another day.
In the coming days, four more people were charged after attempting to help Johnson cover his crimes.
It was later determined that Alina, who suffered catastrophic injuries, tried to save her brother in her final moments.
‘Ernesto had suffered for 39 agonising minutes.’
She tragically died at the scene, while my sweet Ernesto suffered for 39 agonising minutes before also slipping away.
My heart couldn’t bear it.
We held their joint funeral the following week.
As their coffins were lowered into the ground, I felt like my soul was ripped from my body.
‘When I wake up, I forget they’re dead.
And then it comes crashing down on me,’ I said, sobbing.
Without their sweet smiles, our house didn’t feel like home anymore.
The laughter was gone.
I was tortured by survivor’s guilt.
It should’ve been me in that car, I thought, wishing I could trade places with my kids.
Still, I knew I had to stay Determined to seek justice for my babies, I started a petition in November 2023 to have the maximum penalties for serious road crimes increased.
I surpassed the 20,000 signatures needed, and in April 2024 the petition was tabled.
We’re yet to learn what changes will be made as a result.
In December 2024, Johnson Kokozian’s friend Laila Moukhallaletti was convicted and sentenced to a Community Correction Order for a period of 18 months for concealing information about a serious indictable offence.
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A year later, in December 2025, one of the passengers, Cruz Pamoana Davis-Tuka, was sentenced to 15 months of intensive correction in the community for concealing a serious indictable offence and hindering the investigation.
In March this year, I finally faced the man who killed my babies at Campbelltown District Court.
Johnson Kokozian, then 23, had pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death and two counts of failing to stop and assist after vehicle impact causing death.
After colliding with Alina’s hatchback, instead of stopping to help, Kokozian and his passengers had flagged down a passing car, who offered to take them to hospital.
But on the way, they demanded to be dropped off at the home of Johnson’s father, Kagadour, instead.
Kagadour, who owned the car, reported the Mercedes stolen to police.
‘The truth had prevailed.’
But eventually, the truth had prevailed.
Shockingly, Johnson Kokozian was driving on a suspended licence when he’d killed my kids.
I summoned all my strength to tell him, ‘You are one of the most vile and evil people I have ever come across in my life.’
He sat there emotionless, as I laid my pain bare.
‘You are truly heartless…
I hope for the rest of your miserable life you suffer, not only in this life but the next life too,’ I went on, explaining I could never forgive him for what he had done.
Judge David Arnott sentenced Johnson Kokozian to nine years in prison.
But with time already served, he could be out by March 2029.
Police estimated he’d been driving at more than 100km/h in a 50km zone.
I was devastated.
I felt the sentence was a joke.
But still, the shocks kept coming.
In May this year, Kagadour Hanna Kokozian, 64, was sentenced to a 15-month jail term to be served in the community for hindering the investigation and concealing the offence.
I was there to see him stare at the floor as I told him, ‘I do not believe there is a place in heaven or hell that can hold the weight of your actions’.
In June, Johnson Kokozian’s fiancé Tiana Savignano pleaded guilty to hindering the investigation.
She’ll be sentenced mid-August.
‘I cannot believe the depth of cruelty.’
How many people had lied to protect him?
I couldn’t believe the depth of cruelty in his circle.
Now nearly three years on, I visit Alina and Ernesto’s graves every day, but the pain never gets easier for me or Ayeanna.
I continue advocating for other families going through a nightmare like ours.
I vow to fight until my last breath.
