The sentence was issued after the plaintiff and the victim’s family failed to reach an out-of-court settlement. The victim’s father had also been demanding the death penalty. The court reached the decision after reading the traffic report that the driver was drunk, that he ran a red light and crashed into the victim’s car killing him instantly.

The Higher Court in Riyadh had earlier rejected a decision to drop charges and formed a committee of three judges who passed the ruling to execute the driver.

In a previous trial, a judge ordered the Saudi man to pay the victim’s family blood money and 80 lashes. The Higher Court in Riyadh however rejected the ruling and formed a committee to consider the demands of the victim’s family.