Teen jailed over deadly crash, 'cowardly' bashing

Months after a brutal assault confined an unsuspecting stranger to lifelong disability, a teenager upended the lives of another family.

The 18-year-old was jailed on Tuesday over the death of his friend and an earlier episode of violence in Melbourne in 2025.

"It cannot be forgotten that a life was lost and another was irrevocably altered as a result of (your offending) over two (incidents)," Victorian County Court Chief Judge Amanda Chambers said.

The offender watched with arms crossed over video link from prison but did not show any emotion as he was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Drunk and driving unlicensed, the then-17-year-old was speeding in a stolen SUV in the early hours of May 18, 2025, when he ran a red light and crashed into an oncoming car.

His vehicle spun out of control and smashed into a pole at an intersection in Tarneit in Melbourne's west, causing the driver - who had been released on probation nine days earlier - to be ejected from the car.

Friend and rear passenger Kevin Lomena-Olenga, 16, was found unconscious half-hanging out of the car and later died in hospital from a traumatic head injury.

The driver, who had been released on parole nine days earlier and suffered pelvic injuries, pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death, unlicensed driving and theft.

Kevin's mother Bora Mireye told of her grief, saying she cries all night when she dreams of him and questions whether God is punishing her.

Three months before the fatal crash, the teen driver had been involved in a violent assault which left Valentino Arop with a lifelong disability.

The then-juvenile was with five others when they came across Mr Arop and his friends inside a Flemington housing tower car park in the early hours of February 6, 2025.

The subsequent brain injury was so catastrophic that the victim, aged in his 30s, was placed in a coma and now suffers a permanent disability, relying on family and support workers for everyday tasks.

Judge Chambers described the offending as "plainly very serious" and noted it ended in "catastrophic consequences".

"That you continued to kick and assault (Mr Arop) at a time he was lying unconscious on the ground was cowardly and inhumane," she said.