A Westmoreland County judge said Wednesday that the New Year’s Eve road rage killing of a Rostraver woman three years ago was “one of the most callous, senseless, arrogant, cold-blooded killings with malice” he had ever witnessed.
Anthony Hairston, 29, of Belle Vernon, was sentenced by Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani to up to 80 years in prison for killing Holly Vadella on January 1, 2022. Hairston was found guilty in November of third-degree murder, weapon violations, and other charges.
At trial, prosecutors maintained that Hairston was guilty of first-degree murder for an intended killing, a crime punishable by life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Feliciani stated at Hairston’s sentencing hearing that his actions were unfathomable.
“This woman just left her elderly mother’s home on New Year’s Eve. She had a sip of wine … and instead of just staying at her mother’s she decided she had to get home. She was driving slowly as a lot of people do on New Year’s Eve and here you come. Upset because she was driving too slowly you fired two shots into the her driver’s side window and killed her. You left and proceeded on your way to last call at the bar. I never witnessed such callousness,” Feliciani said.
Vadella, 59, died from the injuries sustained in the incident.
At trial, witnesses testified that Hairston fired the deadly shots. Authorities discovered the murder weapon in his girlfriend’s possession the next day.
Hairston did not testify during his trial, in which defense counsel Brian Aston contended that the girlfriend was possibly the murderer.
Hairston apologized to Vadella’s family before imposing his punishment.
Prosecutors encouraged the judge to interpret the case differently than the jury decision indicated.
“He snatched away somebody’s life because they were in his way. That’s the actual definition of in cold blood. You can make this as right as you can and now the system can meet him squarely as needed,” said Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli.
“I know words cannot take the pain away. I truly am deeply sorry. I do know what grief feels like, what pain feels like and I am sorry,” Hairston said.
The judge handed down a maximum 20- to 40-year jail sentence for murder, as well as a series of consecutive penalties for unlawful weapons possession, evidence tampering, and drug charges, requiring him to serve at least 40 to 80 years in prison.
Before his trial, Hairston turned down a proposal with prosecutors to plead guilty to third-degree murder in exchange for a 25- to 50-year jail sentence.
Her brother and mother said that they continue to mourn Vadella’s loss.
“That New Year’s Eve when I think about it and watched her drive down the street where she grew up on I never thought I wouldn’t see her again,” testified Delores Coulson, Vadella’s mother. “I am absolutely heartbroken and until the day I die I will never get over this. Holly was my child and now she is gone.”
