Heckenberg: Johnson Kokozian refused bail after brother, sister killed in head-on crash
A young father has been refused bail accused of being behind the wheel of his dad’s high-performance Mercedes Benz when it crossed to the wrong side of the road and killed two siblings on Friday night.
Police & Courts
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A young father has been refused bail accused of being behind the wheel of his dad’s high-performance Mercedes Benz when it crossed to the wrong side of the road and killed two siblings on Friday night.
Johnson Kokozian, 20, told police he was the front seat passenger in the SUV wagon when it struck a Toyota Yaris at Heckenberg in Sydney’s south west, killing nursing student Alina Kauffman, 24, and her brother Ernesto, 15.
But Parramatta bail court heard on Sunday that there were numerous witnesses who allege Kokozian was the driver at the time of the crash, just before 9.30pm.
Police allege Kokozian, who has one child, and the two other people in the SUV fled through the crumpled vehicle’s sunroof and hopped into another vehicle.
The court heard no one attempted to render assistance to the siblings who were dying in the hatchback which had just been hit.
When police knocked on Kokozian’s father’s door hours after the crash to alert him it was a vehicle registered in his name that was involved, the man allegedly claimed the car had been stolen.
Magistrate Rob Rabbidge refused bail saying it was an “appalling situation” and that he was satisfied Kokozian was the driver.
Kokozian’s girlfriend and father were in court to support him.
Yesterday the siblings’ devastated mother broke down at the scene of the accident which took the lives of her two children. She talked about the last time she saw Alina and Ernesto and the final conversation they shared.
Alina had picked her little brother up from his new job at a nearby Kmart when they collided with a Mercedes on Sadleir Ave — less than 200m from their family home.
Alina called me and said ‘mum I picked up my brother, we are going to get some food and then we are coming home’,” Angelina said.
“I said ‘are you okay’ and they said ‘yes mummy’.”
She grew concerned 20 minutes later when they hadn’t arrived home and stopped answering her calls.
Ms Kauffman and another one of her children went to find Alina and Ernesto after checking their location in a social media app.
When they arrived on Sadleir Ave, Ms Kauffman saw the crumpled wreck and broke down.
“The police came and told me my kids died. My beautiful kids,” she said through tears.
Overcome with emotion, Ms Kauffman described both Ernesto and Alina as “the most beautiful people”.
Alina was a nurse and worked with the elderly, while Ernesto had just started working at Kmart two weeks ago to save up for his first car.
“He was the kindest, sweetest boy, he didn’t have a bad bone in his body,” Ms Kauffman said.
“Alina was so beautiful.
“My kids did not deserve to die.”
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