What Is the Sentence for Homicide by Vehicle While DUI in Philadelphia?
The selected Philadelphia records show Marcus G. Lofton’s two consecutive homicide-by-vehicle-while-DUI terms of six years six months to 13 years each, totaling 13 to 26 years, and Aaron J. Sims’s three-to-six-year homicide count within a seven-to-14-year all-count judgment. A two-death aggregate is not one victim-count sentence, and Sims’s total includes two injured-victim assault terms. These separately scoped outcomes do not form a common citywide range.
Start at the Philadelphia sentence hub. Read our methodology and editorial standards.
What the Offense Means
Pennsylvania Vehicle Code section 3735 applies when a person unintentionally causes a death from a section 3802 DUI violation and is convicted of that DUI violation. Grading and mandatory terms depend on prior history and victim count.
Statutory Sentence
Section 3735 supplies the offense, grading, and mandatory rules; the law in effect on the conduct date controls. This legal framework is separate from the selected outcomes. Priors, victim count, enhancements, and consecutive terms can change a sentence.
Observed Philadelphia Outcomes
| Reported prosecution | Source-reported location, disposition and sentence scope |
|---|---|
| Case cluster 1 | Marcus G. Lofton: the December 16, 2025 opinion describes the November 6, 2021 two-fatality crash at Stenton and Johnson Streets in Philadelphia. The November 1, 2024 judgment imposed six years six months to 13 years on each of two homicide-by-vehicle-while-DUI counts consecutively: 13 to 26 years overall. The separate DUI conviction received no further penalty. The opinion reports prior-DUI circumstances and affirms the judgment; a prosecutor’s requested 15-to-30-year total was not the imposed sentence. |
| Case cluster 2 | Aaron J. Sims: the June 24, 2024 opinion places the January 25, 2020 crash on the eastbound I-676 shoulder at mile 1.4 in the City and County of Philadelphia. The April 28, 2023 judgment imposed three to six years for homicide by vehicle while DUI, plus two consecutive two-to-four-year aggravated-assault-by-vehicle-while-DUI terms: seven to 14 years in aggregate. Other counts merged or received no further penalty. The later June opinion affirmed; the May 14 opinion only denied counsel’s withdrawal and retained jurisdiction. |
Case Sources
Lofton, December 16, 2025 court opinion, printed pages 1–4 and 9–10, supports the two count terms, total and affirmance; this is a court-text copy hosted by Justia. For Sims, the June 24, 2024 opinion, printed pages 1–4 and 13–14, supplies the affirmed judgment; the earlier May 14 procedural opinion is not an affirmance or another prosecution. Sims’s injured-victim counts are explained separately in the Philadelphia vehicle-DUI assault guide.
Methodology
Two crash prosecutions are described. Lofton’s two fatal-victim counts remain one cluster; his prior North Carolina DUI is not another qualifying Philadelphia homicide case. Sims remains the same cluster used in the related assault-count guide, not a duplicate independent case. His homicide count is separated from the added assault terms, and Lofton’s two-count aggregate is not compared directly with it. Court-reported Philadelphia locations do not replace independent municipal-point qualification; exhaustive later review remains incomplete. Relevant court passages were actually read September 28, 2026.
Official Law
Limit: Two selected cases cannot establish a typical result. General information only, not legal advice.