Former Mobile neurosurgeon sentenced to 25 years for fatal wreck

By Brendan Kirby

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — A judge Thursday sentenced a former neurosurgeon to 25 years in prison for the high-speed accident that cut short the life of a young woman who was training to be a doctor.

Mobile County Circuit Judge Ben Brooks told Jonathan Pishoi Nakhla it was the most complex case he ever has presided over.

“It’s such a tragic case all around,” he said.

Brooks said he found the evidence in the trial “profoundly significant” and added that Nakhla’s loss of liberty weighs heavily on him.

“But weighing more heavily is the death of Samantha Thomas,” he said.

Under Alabama law, Nakhla will have to serve at least 15 years before he is first eligible for parole.

Dressed in a Mobile County Metro Jail uniform, Nakhla spoke in a soft voice director to the victim’s father and stepmother. He told them he would switch places if he could.

“I think about her, pray for her, pray for you. … No parent should have to endure what you’ve had to endure,” he said.

Nakhla also apologized to his two children.

Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood called it a “just sentence,” even though prosecutors wanted a longer prison term.

“At the end of the day, 25 years is a very long time,” he said outside the courtroom.

Defense attorney Dennis Knizley asked for a 15-year “split” sentence, with three years behind bars and the rest suspended. That, he told the judge, would have given Nakhla the chance to contribute to the community.

“It was certainly more than what we were seeking, and we’re disappointed in the sentence in the case,’ he said outside the courtroom, adding that the defendant plans to appeal.

Former Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich, who personally oversaw the case while in office and took it to trial even after her term ended, fought back tears at times during the hearing. She told the judge that prosecutors offered Nakhla a plea deal of 15 years and a day in prison if he would plead guilty to manslaughter.

“The defendant vehemently opposed that,” Rich said.

Testimony at last month’s trial indicated that Nakhla, 38, had just gotten off of work at Mobile Infirmary on July 31, 2020, and was drinking with acquaintances at the pool of his apartment building. Shortly after midnight, he took Thomas for a ride in his Audi R8 Spyder.

At the time, according to expert witnesses, Nakhla had a blood-alcohol concentration behind the legal driving limit, and his car was traveling 138 mph seconds before he lost control of it on the Interstate 65 Service Road. The car flipped several times, striking a guardrail and then landing upside down in a ditch.

The crash instantly killed Thomas, who was a 24-year-old University of South Alabama medical school student.

The defense put the fault at the hands of a man who was turning into a motel parking lot. They argued the driver turned without signaling, leaving Nakhla with almost no time to react.

But prosecutors that Nakhla demonstrated a complete disregard for human life, turning his car into a weapon.

The victim’s father, Harold Thomas, offered anguished testimony Thursday of his loss.

“What this man has done to me and my family – stripped me of my daughter, grandchildren,” she said. “A big part of my life, and he doesn’t care.”

Thomas noted that he is an Alabama resident whose taxes pay for the state’s roads.

“He’s using our roads as a playground, a racetrack,” he said.

The victim’s stepmother, Christiana Thomas, told Nakhla directly that he “preyed” on her stepdaughter.

“I can go on and on about the things we will never have as a family,” she said.

Massimo Rigotti testified that Thomas inspired him to write a book on overcoming bipolar disorder. He dedicated that book to her, a fact her family did not even realize. He said he met Thomas in Destin in 2014 when he was spiraling out of control. Nine months later, he said, he had lost his house and was eating out of Dumpsters.

Rigotti said he got a post office box and that Thomas continued to send him letters.

“She sustained my will to live,” he said.

The defense tried to paint another picture of Nakhla, that of a talented doctor and warm family man who made a tragic mistake.

Knizley sought to counter the prosecution’s characterization of Nakhla as a privileged, entitled man who cared more about his car and watch than the life of his passenger.

Knizley noted that Nakhla’s father immigrated from Egypt and lived in a two-bedroom apartment when the defendant was born.

“He was not born to wealth,” he said. “He was not born to status. He had somewhat humble beginnings.”

Several former patients and relatives of former patients testified about Nakhla’s care and dedication as a physician. In addition to the witnesses, almost 300 people submitted letters on his behalf.

Dr. Lawrence Daniels, who was the chief resident when Nakhla was the most juror resident in a neurosurgery program. He said Nakhla was an “exceptional resident” who never took short-cuts with patients. He also told a deeply personal story of when he was 11 and a student at his school killed his bother. He said he vowed to seek revenge when the killer got out of prison. But then, he said, his mother did something unexpected.

“When we were leaving the courtroom, my mother made a beeline to his mother and took her hand and said, ‘I want to say a prayer with you,’” he said.

The reason?

“She said, ‘we have both lost a son’ and gave her a hug,” he said.

Updated at 7:43 p.m. to include reaction to the judge’s ruling.

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