Javonnie Tavener was sentenced to five years and four months after killing Mayar Yahia as she walked home from Eid celebrations with her family on Upper Highgate Street in Birmingham
A motorist who killed a four year old girl in a collision as she walked home from Eid celebrations with her family has been imprisoned.
Javonnie Tavener, 23, previously admitted causing death by careless driving after striking little Mayar Yahia with his vehicle on Upper Highgate Street in Birmingham on April 14, 2024. The collision also left two others – Mayar’s mother, Sara, and another mother, Awadia Hammed – seriously injured.
Tavener also pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by careless driving and a further charge of causing death whilst driving uninsured.
At Birmingham Crown Court today, Tavener was imprisoned for three years and 10 months for offences related to careless driving. He received an additional 18-month sentence for assaulting and attempting to strangle his girlfriend several weeks later, bringing his total imprisonment to five years and four months.
He was also banned from driving for six years, reports the Mirror.
The same court previously heard that two vehicles collided before Tavener’s Vauxhall Corsa crashed through a barrier and into the group. During the sentencing hearing, the judge heard that following the collision Tavener remained at the scene for nine seconds before reversing, causing Mayar to be dragged by the vehicle.
He and a passenger then exited the car and fled on foot, the court was told.
Emergency services arrived at the scene and discovered Mayar on the roadside, where she was tragically declared dead. One of the women Tavener injured spent nearly a month in hospital and needed surgery, whilst the other remained hospitalised for approximately three weeks.
In a statement read to the court on Friday, Mayar’s father, Babiker Yahia, explained how the family lived close to the crash scene, providing them with a “constant reminder” of the tragedy.
“I stayed with Mayar when she was taken from the collision and transported to hospital – that night will remain with me forever,” he said.
He added that Mayar was the third of four children and was “full of love, always smiling” and “kind to everyone”. “Mayar’s siblings were with her at the time of the collision, [they] were young and witnessed it,” he said.
“They have been exposed to so much trauma, and we do not know how this will shape their lives as they grow.”
Sentencing, His Honour Judge Cooke said Tavener had been driving at excessive speed whilst attempting to overtake another vehicle in a 20mph zone at night, “with cannabis in your system and using a phone”. The judge continued: “The victim was a vulnerable pedestrian – you were on your phone, it was a car with no insurance. You said you were a rear passenger instead of the driver. The passenger’s post incident conduct was a disgraceful as yours.
“You abandoned the car at the scene, after reversing, presumably to try to leave, dragging little Mayar. You walked off calling for your girlfriend.
“The callous way in which you walked away from the mayhem was sickening to watch. You blamed a phantom driver.”
Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from the West Midlands Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit, previously said: “Mayar was just four years old when her life was tragically taken away from her. She was walking back with her family and friends after celebrating Eid.
“Pedestrians should be afforded and be reassured of protection when walking on the pavement and a split-second decision by Tavener to overtake where he did has led to this tragic chain of events. I would urge all drivers to think about this incident and how those decisions can have such catastrophic consequences.”
