James Holian, 40, of Cabot was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for killing four people during a road rage incident last September.
A Faulkner County jury found him guilty on Thursday of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of four members of the San Felippo family on Hwy. 64 in Vilonia.
Holian will serve his sentence concurrently and is not eligible for parole for 14 years.
The prosecution argued Holian instigated a road rage war with driver Russell Johnston, ending with Johnston crossing the center line, killing the San Felippos.
The road rage incident started at a traffic light and continued for seven to eight miles when Johnston’s car crossed into oncoming traffic near the Vilonia Primary School and struck two vehicles, a 2006 Ford F-150 and a 2007 Cadillac Deville.
The driver and passenger in the F-150 suffered minor injuries; but four of the five San Felippo family members in the 2007 Cadillac were killed and the survivor sustained serious injuries.
Johnston, 30, was ejected from the vehicle and taken to the hospital for treatment. Johnston, who is now paralyzed, will be tried in November.
Holian and Johnston are accused of “manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
Holian was also charged with one count of failure to stop after an accident involving injury or death.
Prosecutor Marcus Vaden told the jury, “Four completely innocent people were killed during the course of Holian and Johnston committing the felony of aggravated assault with their vehicles.
“The outrageous behavior of two grown men operating their vehicles in the manner they did and at the extreme speed they did is unbelievable. And in our opinion it amounts to murder.”
Holian erupted on the witness stand Thursday, saying the legal system is flawed and he was tired of being treated as though the Constitution reads “guilty until proven innocent.”
