3-plus years in prison for ex-Raider Ruggs for fatal DUI crash
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Former Las Vegas Raiders player Henry Ruggs was sentenced Wednesday to at least three years in a Nevada prison for killing a woman in a fiery crash while driving his sports car drunk at speeds up to 156 mph on a city street nearly two years ago.
“I sincerely apologize,” the former first-round NFL Draft pick said as he stood for sentencing in Las Vegas after pleading guilty in May to felony DUI causing death and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, a charge carrying a six-month jail sentence that will be folded in with his threeto-10-year prison term.
Ruggs, now 24, was cut by the Raiders while he was still hospitalized following the predawn crash on Nov. 2, 2021. The collision killed Tina Tintor and her dog, Max, and injured Ruggs’ passenger, Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, his fiancée and mother of their daughter.
“I have no excuses,” Ruggs said, citing pain the case has caused his family, teammates and Tintor’s family. Ruggs said that after prison, he intends to counsel others “about the dangers of driving at unsafe speed and driving and drinking.”
In a statement read in court by Tintor’s cousin, David Strbac, Tintor’s mother, Mirjana Komazec, offered grief, grace and memories of “what it was like to hug and embrace her, knowing we will never be able to kiss her on her forehead or tell her how much we love her and how absolutely proud of her we are.”
“We pray that Henry Ruggs is blessed with the opportunity to be able watch his beautiful daughter grow into the amazing woman she can be,” Komazec’s statement said. “And we pray that this terrible accident inspires positive change in the world. We pray that we all take away the importance of looking out for one another, remembering everyone we meet is another human’s loved one.”