If she could have her way, Stephanie Kusayanagi would like to
see only foot traffic on the lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard South.
It’s where her husband, Gordon Kusayanagi, was killed in September
2005, when 29-year-old Stephen Ressa used his mother’s car to plow
into a crowded Las Vegas Strip sidewalk.
LAS VEGAS
If she could have her way, Stephanie Kusayanagi would like to see only foot traffic on the lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard South.
It’s where her husband, Gordon Kusayanagi, was killed in September 2005, when 29-year-old Stephen Ressa used his mother’s car to plow into a crowded Las Vegas Strip sidewalk.
On Friday, Ressa was sentenced to life in prison without parole for Gordon Kusayanagi’s death; 11 counts of attempted murder; and the deaths of Mark Modaressi, 26, of Irvine, and Richard Bradford, 60, of Renton, Wash. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill to those charges in October to avoid the death penalty, his attorney said.
Kusayanagi’s family members, who had an opportunity Friday to address the court and remember the man who brought them love and music, expressed relief that it is over. But knowing Ressa will spend the rest of his days in prison hasn’t necessarily brought them closure.
“I don’t know if anyone who goes through what we did is ever going to have any closure,” Stephanie Kusayanagi said. She and her husband lived in Gilroy for 25 years before moving to Hollister about 10 years ago.
Their 31-year-old son, Scott Kusayanagi, said no punishment will bring back his father.
In the immediate aftermath of his father’s death, Scott Kusayanagi wanted the death penalty for Ressa.
