Former teacher Tammy Lowe was sentenced Friday to eight years for manslaughter and 10 years for failure to stop and render aid for killing a child during a hit-and-run crash last January.
The district attorney told NBC 5 Lowe's sentences would be served concurrently.
On Thursday, a jury found the 54-year-old guilty of manslaughter using a deadly weapon.
Six-year-old John Paul Raidy was fatally struck while crossing the street on the 1100 block of North Carrier Parkway on Jan. 24, 2013.
The former middle school teacher said she couldn't sleep since that night and has been waiting to apologize to Raidy's family.
Raidy's parents had no compassion for the woman convicted of killing their son. Lauren Raidy asked the jury to not give any leniency to Lowe.
Raidy's mother took the stand Friday to address Lowe after sentencing.
"It wasn't just one life you took, you took the life of the whole family," said Lauren Raidy. "You treated my son like debris on the road."
"You took John a month before his 7th birthday. You stole holidays, birthdays, his future, his love and everything from us," Laren Raidy continued. "You tried to cover up what you did and live your life with your family, while I died, while I died inside from having to bury my child."
Andrew Ellis, John's father also took the stand.
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"I don't feel you're sorry. I feel you're sorry you got caught," he said. "Every birthday my daughter has will be 18 hours after the loss of my son. Every goal my son scores on his soccer game will be one more his brother won't get to watch."
Outside the courtroom, the first grader's father said it's now time for his family to heal without allowing Lowe's actions to take over their lives.
"I don't think she's worthy of hate. To hate her will be to validate her, and that's not something I'll ever do," Ellis said.
Defense attorney Susan Anderson said Lowe will be eligible for parole after serving four years in prison.
She also said Lowe will be in custody at Dallas County Jail awaiting her transport to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice until there is a decision on whether or not to appeal.
Prosecutor Danielle Uher said the punishment Lowe received was fit for the crime.
"John Paul should've been starting school next week, and it's a shame that he's not here to do that. And I think that the jury spoke well today in his behalf," Uher said. "With no criminal record we didn't anticipate they would give the maximum sentence in either case, and they did give the maximum in the failure to stop and render aid, and I think that spoke volumes for someone who didn't turn themselves in for five days."
Lawyers on both sides said this is a case they and the jury will remember for a very long time.
As for John Paul Raidy's family, his maternal grandmother, Anita Eads, explained it best.
"I'm absolutely traumatized. I've now relived details that I didn't even know about that I couldn't think about to survive," she said. "I'm glad she's going to the penitentiary, because I lost every shred of hope for thinking that Tammy Lowe had remorse."
