By james art 
CHESAPEAKE — A driver who failed to stop after hitting and killing an 8-year-old boy on a road in Chesapeake was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.
The sentence given to Richard Humbert by District Judge Steven Telfian was significantly higher than what was recommended under state sentencing guidelines. The guidelines, which recommend a sentence based on a defendant’s history and the crime for which he was convicted, recommend that he serve no more than six months.
Telfian also ordered Humbert to serve three years of supervised probation after his release. State law requires him to lose his driver’s license for one year.
The 40-year-old Virginia Beach man was found guilty of hit-and-run resulting in death or injury at the end of a November trial. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison.
The accident happened around 4:15 p.m. on October 3, 2023 on a sparsely populated stretch of South Battlefield Boulevard.
Forrest Hooper was trying to cross the two-lane road when he was hit by a car and landed in a grassy area next to the road. The driver did not stop, but a woman from a nearby house who heard the impact ran to try to help the boy. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police collected video footage from nearby businesses and were able to identify the vehicle. Humbert was arrested two days later.
He admitted to hitting something with his Honda Civic sedan that day, but told investigators he thought he hit a deer. He said he didn’t see anything on the road when he looked back and ended up pulling into the Wawa parking lot to check on the damage to his car.
Photographs entered into evidence show the car had damage to its front bumper as well as a large dent in the center of the hood. The dust on the hood revealed what appeared to be a smudged handprint.
A search of Humbert’s phone showed that he entered several search queries after the accident, including “do when animal hits ca(sic) and front end damage,” “Chesapeake news today” and “News from Chesapeake Today Car Accident’.
Jane Harper, [email protected]
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