A Connecticut private schoolgirl who killed a biker while distractedly driving her mother’s Mercedes was spared jail, after a judge was told about her health issues.
Anngelina Morton, now 20, was given a 10-year suspended prison sentence Thursday after admitting the second-degree manslaughter of Justin Gittings, 31, who died in September 2024 after the crash in the ritzy town of Farmington, Connecticut.
His family are outraged over the ruling, which was handed down at Hartford Superior Court following an emotional hearing.
Morton was distracted by a text which popped up on the swanky SUV’s infotainment screen when she crossed the center line and struck Gittings while traveling at 41mph.
He was so badly wounded that his leg had to be amputated at the scene, with the motorcyclist succumbing to his injuries four weeks later. Two of his friends, who were riding on a motorbike behind him, were also seriously hurt in the wreck.
Morton had turned 18 just five days before the smash.
Anngelina Morton, pictured outside court in Hartford on Thursday after she was spared prison for killing a biker while answering a message in her mother’s Mercedes
Justin Gittings was struck while riding his motorcycle though Farmington, Conneciticut, in August 2023. Doctors amputated one of his legs at the scene to try and save him but he succumbed to his wounds four weeks later
The defendant lived in her family’s $940,000 home, shown above, in Farmington, Connecticut
She continued to post her equestrian achievements on social media while Gittings lay dying in hospital, to the disgust of his family.
The privileged teen was about to enter her senior year at the $53,000-a-year Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, whose alumnus include Sigourney Weaver.
A seemingly gilded life lay ahead of Morton, who shares a $940,000 home with her 63-year-old UnitedHealth executive mother Tammi Morton.
All of that has since vanished, according to her lawyer William Gerace, who sat beside Morton as she quietly cried throughout Thursday’s hearing.
Gerace managed to convince Judge Moira Buckley to spare his client, who wore a simple white shirt and loose-fitting black pants, a potential 2.5 year prison sentence after detailing how she had become a shell of her former self after the accident.
He painted Morton as ‘a little girl who had only just turned 18 driving in her mother’s car’ who was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the wreck.
Anngelina Morton shared photos of herself enjoying equestrian pursuits on Instagram while her victim Justin Gittings lay dying in hospital
Anngelina Morton is shielded by a relative as she leaves Hartford Superior Court after avoiding a prison sentence
Mortin is seen shortly after her arrest in summer 2024. She was about to begin her senior year at the $53,000-a-year Ethel Walker school
Gittings’ mother Beth Politis is pictured outside court on Thursday. She fled in tears on realizing her son’s killer would not sentenced to time in custody
Gerace told the court that Morton has developed ‘bulimia and anorexia’ since the accident, adding that she was no longer able to experience joy and had attempted to take her own life.
‘She has tried to kill herself on many occasions and has been institutionalized several times,’ Gerace said. ‘This is what this has done to her. She can’t be happy.’
After the hearing, Morton’s other attorney Cara Cavallari told the Daily Mail that her client was ‘hanging on by a string.’
The court was also told of how Morton’s mother Tammi, who worked as Chief Corporate Security Officer at UnitedHealth, had been ‘bankrupted’ by civil settlements filed against her daughter in the wake of Gittings’ death.
The amounts paid out were not disclosed and there was no sign of Tammi at Thursday’s hearing.
Morton leaves court on Thursday afternoon. One of her lawyers told the Daily Mail that the killer was ‘hanging by a string’
Morton is seen arriving at court in a black SUV before Thursday’s hearing
Morton is pictured during her first court appearance. She ultimately pleaded guilty to manslaughter
Morton’s offer to study at Auburn University in Alabama was withdrawn and she is now a student at Arizona State University.
She took to the stand to apologize on Thursday, tearfully telling the court: ‘This tragedy has shattered my heart and soul.’
Speaking through sobs, she said her anguish over what she did was ‘incapacitating,’ adding: ‘I will never be able to move forward and leave this behind.
‘To Justin’s family and to Emily and Tyler, I know this is not enough,’ she continued.
‘I am truly and profoundly sorry. To Justin and the future he should have had, to Emily and Tyler for what they have endured, I am incomprehensibly and desperately sorry.’
Judge Buckley ultimately took Morton and her attorney’s pleas on board, calling her a ‘good kid.’
Morton’s mother, Tammi Morton (pictured), 63, was a high-flying Chief Corporate Security Officer at UnitedHealth Group, according to her LinkedIn profile
She also cited Morton’s age when letting her off with probation and a $5,000 fine.
Morton was also ordered to write letters of apology to Gittings’ family as well as Tyler Silvas and Emily Scarfo, Gittings’ friends who were riding behind him in a second bike.
They were also badly injured in the smash.
Judge Buckley acknowledged the victims’ concerns that Morton ‘had a privileged life’ but said, ‘this is not a case about privilege.’
She also condemned Morton’s social media activity following the crash.
‘Would I take to social media in this kind of case? Absolutely not,’ Buckley said.
Morton is seen leaving court in Hartford on Thursday. She is now a student at Arizona State University after an offer to study at Auburn University in Alabama was rescinded in the wake of Gittings’ death
‘I would not post about it, I would hunker down, but to the disappointment of most of you here, I’m not going to sentence her for that behavior. I believe that in the months that followed, she has shown remorse for what happened.’
Gittings’ loved ones were distraught by the sentence, with one of his friends screaming ‘murderer!’ at Morton, who wore black Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses to hide her face as she was marched out of the courthouse by her family.
She was promptly bundled into a white SUV before it drove away.
The victim’s mother, Beth Politis, said before sentence was passed that only a custodial punishment would bring her family closure.
‘I came to court with nobody calling me mom,’ she said.
‘At this point, I don’t want an apology or to hear about remorse.’
Gittings’ friends, many of them fellow truckers, arrived in cars covered in Harley Davidson stickers before packing out the courtroom.
In touching victim impact statements read aloud by 17 people, they remembered him as a deeply caring man who brightened their days with his infectious sense of humor.
Beth Politis is seen with her two sons, including Justin (pictured right) whose loss she continues to struggle with
After Morton was allowed to walk, Politis left the courtroom in tears, too upset to speak.
In her concluding remarks, Judge Buckley ordered Morton to ‘grow up.’
Sadly for Beth Politis, her late son will never get to hit the life milestone that may still lie ahead for Morton.
She said a particularly sharp reminder of her son’s loss comes courtesy of his beloved dog Piper, who she adopted after his death.
‘[Piper] continues to look for Justin every time a truck stops and every time she hears a motorcycle,’ Politis said.
‘I don’t know what’s worse; Piper waiting for Justin to return home, or me knowing he never will.’
