MONTEREY PARK >> The Alhambra woman who hit an 80-year-old man in Monterey Park with her minivan, then dragged his body half a mile, will spend about a year in county jail, an official with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.

The victim, Kwai-Ling Hong, was taking a walk to get a newspaper when he was killed in the Jan. 7, 2016 collision. His family said they think the sentence for the 34-year-old driver, Cecilia Morales De Toledo, was too light.

“We are upset about it,” said George Hong, who is the youngest of Kwai-Ling Hong’s three children. “I just find it quite unfortunate that the judge gave a lenient sentence.”

He said they were hoping De Toledo, a mother of two young children, would get a longer sentence. He said be believed the judge was lenient because De Toledo had no prior criminal history.

Over the objection from the prosecution, Alhambra Superior Court Judge Michael Villalobos on Thursday sentenced De Toledo to 364 days in county jail, five years probation and ordered her to pay a $300 court restitution fee, according to Ricardo Santiago, a DA spokesman.

Santiago said the prosecutor had made an offer to De Toledo where she would serve four years in prison but she rejected it. The offer was made before a trial was scheduled.

De Toledo told police she wasn’t aware she struck someone until she arrived home. She threw herself on the mercy of the court and pleaded no contest on Feb. 22 to hit and run resulting in death or serious injury, vehicular manslaughter and driving a vehicle without a valid license.

A Los Angeles Superior Court spokeswoman said judges are forbidden from discussing any open case, which will apply if there is an appeal filed.

George Hong said the family was forewarned by the prosecutor that the judge may opt for a low sentence. The judge found it highly unlikely De Toledo didn’t know she hit Hong, but gave her the benefit of the doubt that she didn’t know the Alhambra senior was trapped under the Kia, according to George Hong.

He pointed out there was damage to the hood on the driver side.

“She must have felt or heard something,” George Hong said.

During the sentencing, he told the court it was hard for him to comprehend how De Toledo could have had little regard for someone else’s life. He said she chose the cowardly act of fleeing instead of stopping to give aid or call 911.

“The defendant’s hit and run ensured my father’s death as she dragged him for nearly half a mile, shredding his spine and fracturing his skull, causing him to bleed to death,” wrote George Hong in a letter to the court. “Had the defendant stopped and rendered aid by calling 911 it is entirely possible my father may still be here with us today.”

He said his mother, Lynn Hong, was hit by a car Nov. 21, 2016 in Monterey Park but survived because the driver stopped immediately and flagged down someone to call 911. Lynn Hong suffered a severe head injury.

Geraldine Kuriki, who is Hong’s daughter, wrote to the court that she cannot express adequately how painful it has been to lose her father.

“Our family has been thru lots of sadness, anguish and frustration since the tragedy took him from our lives,” Kuriki wrote.

“We feel no one deserves to leave this world the way my dad did. Our questions: was he in pain and aware that he was being dragged, would he have recovered and lived if the defendant stopped, what was he thinking the last moments before he passed, would never be answered. But we need some kind of closure and for our father to rest in peace,” Kuriki wrote.

De Toledo apologized to Hong’s family during her sentencing but questioned why she had to listen to the relatives talking about the impact Hong’s death had on them.

Her attorney didn’t return a call for comment on Monday.

The case stems from a Jan. 7, 2016 hit-and-run on Hathaway Avenue, just south of Hellman Avenue, in Monterey Park. A Kia Sedona carrying children and driven by De Toledo struck Hong. His body got trapped under the minivan which did not stop.

Witnesses followed and honked at the vehicle to stop. De Toledo called her husband upon reaching her home in the 2400 block of Wetherhead Drive in Alhambra.

Paramedics pronounced Kwai-Ling Hong dead at the scene at 4 p.m. The coroner ruled he died of multiple blunt force traumatic injuries.

Kwai-Ling Hong was born in Dam Sui, Taiwan. He taught at an elementary school for three years then went on to Taiwan University where he earned a degree in chemical engineering. He got accepted to Tokyo University and graduated with a master’s degree and a doctorate in chemical engineering.

From Japan, he moved to America in 1974 accompanied by his pregnant wife and two children. George Hong said his father ran a motel and convenience store with his uncles.

(Editor’s note: The story was corrected to show that the prosecution did offer a deal to the defendant which she rejected. The defendant also did not call 911 after hitting the pedestrian.)