2nd degree murder charges for hit-n-run driver; What about the jaywalking?
In case you didn't hear Friday...
A Glendale man suspected of a hit-and-run crash that killed a 24-year-old Glendale woman was charged Friday with second-degree murder, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced. Ara Grigoryan, 21, was expected to answer to the charge in Pasadena Superior Court today, said Deputy District Attorney Robert Knowles. The D.A.'s office will ask that Grigoryan be held without bail.Grigoryan is suspected of driving a black Mercedes-Benz on July 10 that struck and killed Elizabeth Sandoval as she was walking on Glendale Avenue near Windsor Road. The driver did not stop. The vehicle was found last Saturday near a Van Nuys body shop. Grigoryan was arrested in Mexico City this week by U.S. Marshals as he was allegedly going to take a flight to Europe and possibly his home country of Armenia, police said.
The Mexican government deemed him undesireable and turned him over to U.S. custody. If convicted, he's facing 15 years to life in prison, officials said.
Meanwhile, got a call from a reader who felt the fact that Elizabeth Sandoval was jaywalking when she was struck and killed should be emphasized more in the coverage. I mentioned that early in the coverage, but that detail dropped off when the story became that of an international manhunt for a hit-and-run driver.
The reader felt Sandoval's family should stop to consider that Elizabeth also broke the law, which resulted in her death. Any thoughts? It's one thing to jaywalk -- we all do it from time to time -- but did she deserve to be killed for it? Isn't a bigger crime for the driver -- who was speeding -- to hit her, then tried to escape responsibilty by fleeing the country?
I supposed it's all best left for the jury to grapple with when this gets to trial.
Earlier:
"Person of interest" in Glendale hit-n-run arrested in Mexico City
A break in the Glendale hit-and-run case?
Comments
She was crossing a fairly major street at night, mid-block, against a red light. Just an incredibly stupid thing to do. Of course she didn't deserve to die. That would be asinine. However, her actions were directly responsible for her death. As were the actions of the jerk who felt that traffic laws were optional for him and that Glendale Ave was his own personal racetrack.
Posted by: glenn | July 23, 2007 9:11 PM