Man pleads guilty in crash that killed Air Force captain from Sayreville
A former American military contractor has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for fatally striking an active-duty U.S. Air Force medical doctor from Sayreville with a forklift as she was walking on Al Dhafra Airbase in the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Capt. Kelliann Leli, 30, a Sayreville native and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, was on her first deployment, in the United Arab Emirates in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel as part of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, when she died in the accident.
According to court documents, on Nov. 27, 2020, Ari Taylor, 32, of Roxboro, North Carolina, was operating a forklift to deliver pallets of water on Al Dhafra Airbase in his role as a civilian employed by a U.S. military contractor. He drove the forklift through a space shared by vehicles and pedestrians, between a medical clinic and living quarters where pedestrians were often present in the area.
At the time of the fatal crash, Taylor was distracted while using his cellphone and never saw Leli. A crash reconstruction expert determined Taylor had almost nine seconds to prevent the crash but didn't see her and failed to take any steps to avoid striking her with the forklift, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release.
On Tuesday, Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25, 2023. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from the FBI.
Following Leli's death, Gov. Phil Murphy ordered U.S. and New Jersey flags flown at half-staff at state properties in her memory.
Leli's husband, Air Force Capt. Jimmy Leli, a KC-10 Extender pilot in the 6th Aerial Refueling Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, California, released a photo of the couple taken in a deployed location in Southwest Asia about six months before her death. It was the couple’s last photo together.
The couple met in Honolulu in 2010, while both were cadets and married in 2015. Hawaii was one of their favorite travel destinations along with Italy, according to her obituary.
Leli, a member of the Seaman family, was born in New Brunswick and grew up in the Parlin section of Sayreville, her obituary states.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy Leli earned her commission in 2012 before completing her medical program.
She graduated from Rutgers Medical School in 2016 and went on to complete her Family Medicine Residency at Travis Air Force Base. Upon completing her residency, Leli was chosen to remain at Travis AFB as faculty, an easy choice, since she had already been named the base’s 2018 Family Medicine “Resident of the Year”, her obituary states.
She was a physician assigned to the 60th Healthcare Operations Squadron at the Family Medicine Clinic at David Grant U.S. States Air Force Medical Center on Travis Air Force Base.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Guilty plea in crash that killed Sayreville Air Force captain
