Family of fatal crash victim speaks out after driver takes plea deal

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Catherine Solis took a plea deal in court Tuesday for charges related to a crash that killed Travis Lassiter about a year-and-a-half ago, but his family told 10 On Your Side that the plea deal was not justice. At around 5:45 p.m. Nov. 13, 2024, police said a car hit someone who was walking across Pruden Boulevard in Suffolk. Commonwealth's attorneys said the driver, Solis, did not have her headlights on. Police said the pedestrian she hit, Lassiter, 40, died at the scene of the crash. "He was a good father," said Robert Creekmore-Phillips, Lassiter's stepfather. "I admire him because of when I look at the two of them, the interaction — he was one of the dads who doesn't mind getting out there to play basketball with his son. They were very competitive. And he worked. If his son needed something, he would do an extra shift or whatever to take care of his son." Creekmore-Phillips said the grief is still really difficult for the family. They think about Lassiter daily. "He would call his mother and they would talk on his way home," Creekmore-Phillips said. "She would have him on the speakerphone, and I would say, 'Hey, how you doing.' At times, ... I guess she was looking for that phone call and didn't get it. I was looking for it. …" Solis' charges were downgraded to improper driving and a traffic infraction for not having her headlights on. She is getting no jail time and has been ordered to pay roughly $500 in fines. Before the judge took her plea deal, Creekwater-Phillips gave his impact statement in court. "How can you reduce the loss of somebody's life to a traffic accident?" he told 10 On Your Side. "It's a misdemeanor and here's the charges and fines. How can that justify somebody's life? It can't. It can't." Lassiter's son Cameron, now 15, has a big family to help raise him. Creekwater-Phillips said Cameron is taking after his father in many ways. "It makes it a little easier knowing somebody's here, that his presence, that his daddy's living through him," Creekmore-Phillips said. "That's a consolation… Yeah, it's so good to know that part of Travis is living on." Phillips said they are exploring their legal options.