Former Mobile doctor faces likely lengthy sentence for fatal accident

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Former neurosurgeon Jonathan Pishoi Nakhla faces prison time – likely a lengthy term – when he stands before a judge Thursday.

A Mobile County jury convicted Nakhla last month of reckless murder in the death of Samantha Thomas, a 24-year-old medical student who was riding with the defendant in his Audi R8 Spyder convertible just after midnight on Aug. 1, 2020.

Testimony indicated that Nakhla was drunk past the legal driving limit and driving up to 138 mph seconds before he lost control of the car on the Interstate 65 Service Road. The car flipped several times, struck a guardrail and landed upside down in a ditch. Nakhla, 38, suffered a concussion and minor injuries, according to testimony. Thomas, however, died instantly.

Reckless murder is a Class A felony, the same as an intentional killing. The sentencing range is 10 years to life in prison. Mobile County Circuit Judge Ben Brooks will be required to consider sentencing guidelines that take into account the severity of the crime and the defendant’s prior criminal history.

Nakhla, who was a doctor at Mobile Infirmary at the time of the fatal wreck, has no criminal record. Still, a FOX10 News review of sentencing guidelines suggests that the offense, itself, sets him up for a recommended prison term of 13 to 85 years.

Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood reiterated this week that his office will ask Brooks to go beyond that.

“The sentence is gonna be up to the judge who tried the case,” he said. “We will certainly make a recommendation, and I expect our recommendation to be life in prison.”

Dennis Knizley, an attorney for Nakhla, said immediately following the verdict that the defense team would seek punishment substantially less than that.

“We will certainly be asking for leniency,” he said. “I mean, this gentleman is never been in trouble a day in his life. He was a tremendous asset to the community. He was a neurosurgeon. One night in his life has changed everything.”

There is precedent for judges handing down stiff sentences to defendants who were not accused of intentionally killing their victims. Like Nakhla, Ladarius Laffitte was driving at an extreme rate of speed – 144 mph in 2017 on a road in Montgomery. He collided with a Lexus sedan, causing the death of a back seat passenger.

The judge in that case sentenced him to 139 years in prison.