Prosecutors file murder charges in fatal La Verne drunken driving crash

POMONA -- Prosecutors filed two counts of murder and other charges today against a man accused of killing two passengers in a drunk driving crash in La Verne on Saturday.

Alan Michael McConnell, 27, could face a life sentence if convicted of murder for the crash that killed Renee Hardy, 20, and Telassie "Lassie" Dague, 22, both of Rancho Cucamonga.

McConnell, of Covina, appeared in Pomona Superior Court this afternoon to be arraigned, but the hearing was postponed to Feb. 10. He remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.

According to prosecutors, McConnell was intoxicated at about 12:45 a.m. Saturday as he drove east on Foothill Boulevard in Dague's car.

He collided with another car at Foothill and Damien Avenue, authorities said. As he tried to flee the crash scene he lost control and struck a tree in the center median of Foothill west of Wheeler Avenue.

Hardy and Dague were both killed, and McConnell was unharmed.

In addition to two counts of murder, prosecutors charged McConnell with four misdemeanors -- two for driving intoxicated, one for hit and run, and one for driving on a suspended license -- as well as an infraction for driving without proof of insurance.

Prosecutors were able to charge McConnell with murder rather than vehicular manslaughter because he has a prior conviction for drunken driving, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.