The Arapahoe District Attorney's Office is defending its decision to give probation and community service to a teenager who was driving illegally and, in the country illegally, when he killed a woman.   

The accident happened last July in Aurora. The victim, Kaitlyn Weaver, was headed home from work when a Jeep, barreling through a residential neighborhood, slammed into her car. The speed limit in the area was 45 mph. Investigators say the driver was doing more than 90 mph.

"She didn't even see him coming," her dad, John Weaver, said. "That's how fast he was going. She was effectively killed instantly."

He says he and his wife Michelle removed their daughter from life support 2 days later, "How do you fathom that loss?"  

Weaver says his daughter was a born caregiver and volunteered for a suicide hotline before taking a job at a drug rehab center in Aurora, "She was really trying to make a difference in their lives every day."

She was 24 years old. The suspect was 15 years old and had other kids in the car with him. He was charged with vehicular homicide. Due to his age, state law shields him from being publicly identified in court records.

Weaver says the prosecutor initially promised to pursue the maximum sentence of two years in youth corrections: "The DA's office said this would be a 'no plea deal' case, so they were not going to offer anything; any concession."

That changed, he says, when the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office changed hands a few months later.

Under the new District Attorney Amy Padden, Weaver says the teen was offered two years' probation if he pleaded guilty.

"Why the change? If he had taken a firearm and recklessly just shot it and killed someone, this would be a different case. They would be pushing it completely differently," Weaver said. "There's no deterrence."

There's also no financial liability, he says, despite his daughter's medical bills, which came to nearly $1 million.

The Jeep was uninsured, and the juvenile's mom says he took it without permission, so she isn't responsible either.

Weaver says the system is broken: "Immigration and the criminal justice system and all these things landed together one day in Aurora and now I sit here today without a daughter."

An organ donor, Kaitlin Weaver continues to live on in others while the person who killed her lives free. Investigators say his mom initially planned to send him back to Colombia. Weaver says he has now filed for asylum.

He had a message for him: "I hope that he makes something of himself and that he remembers the chance he got and I hope that he doesn't forget her."

Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley says an experienced prosecutor handled the plea deal without any direct involvement by the new administration. A judge, he notes, upheld the deal after hearing from the family.

He says before any plea deal, prosecutors consider "the impact on the victims and the community," "the characteristics of the defendant such as age, culpability, and level of remorse," and the "goals of sentencing, including deterrence, rehabilitating the offender, treating similarly situated offenders equitably, and holding each offender accountable."

Brackley says, in this case, "the negotiated sentence acknowledges the seriousness of this preventable tragedy."

The Weavers say the prosecutor didn't speak at the sentencing and the defendant never apologized for taking their daughter's life.

In addition to 100 hours of community service, the teen is required to attend school and not break any laws.

If he violates the terms of his probation, he will go back to court, but under the plea deal, his probation will not automatically be revoked.