A 53-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 17 years in prison for his part in a road rage-fueled crash that killed a 9-year-old boy in Orange.
Roderick Kent Jerro of Orange was convicted in August of gross vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run causing permanent injury.
Because he had two prior strike convictions in the 1980s, including residential burglary, he could have faced up to 51 years to life in prison. But Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Knox decided to not consider the strikes so the latest convictions wouldn’t be third strikes mandating a life sentence.
Jerro pleaded guilty before trial of being a felon in possession of a gun, but his punishment of two years for that will run concurrent with the 17-year sentence.
Co-defendant Miguel Villagomez Jr., 29, was sentenced Oct. 12 to four years in prison. He was convicted with Jerro of gross vehicular manslaughter in August.
The defendants blamed each other during the trial for the Aug. 6, 2015, chase and collision that killed Jesse Rosales on Glassell Street at Wilson Avenue.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky told jurors during the pair’s trial that Villagomez, who was driving a Ford Ranger pickup, ran a red light and struck Jerro’s Chevrolet Malibu at Palm Avenue and Tustin Street in Orange about 9:30 p.m.
Villagomez kept going and Jerro chased him, the prosecutor said. The two raced on local streets, driving through stop signs and red lights, even driving on the wrong side of the road, Bokosky told jurors.
The two were still “driving like maniacs” when they ran a red light on Glassell at Wilson, Bokosky said. At the time, Jesse and his 14-year-old sister, Yadira, were crossing Glassell to meet with their mother, Leticia. Villagomez’s truck just missed hitting the girl, who jumped backward, Bokosky said.
“Jesse does what any 9-year-old does when they’re fearful — he goes for his mother,” putting him in the path of Jerro’s car, the prosecutor said.
The Malibu’s driver’s side mirror struck Jesse as witnesses heard a palpable “thump,” she said. The boy was flung 30 feet, and was pronounced dead just before 10 p.m. at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
The two suspects kept going until Villagomez lost control of his truck at Taft Avenue and slammed into a brick wall, Bokosky said.
Jerro, still irate over the initial crash, grabbed a flashlight and smashed the windows of Villagomez’s pickup, the prosecutor said. Villagomez was on his cell phone and ignored witnesses who ran to his aid, she said.
Jerro’s attorney, Jerome Bradford, argued that his client was pursuing Villagomez to make a citizen’s arrest. He said Jerro had just gotten his car back from the shop after being victimized in another hit-and-run collision.
Villagomez’s attorney, Julie Swain, argued her client was not legally responsible for the boy’s death. She said Villagomez was trying to get away from the enraged Jerro following the minor hit-and-run.
At his sentencing last month, Villagomez offered a tearful apology to Jesse’s family. He told Knox that he ended up behind bars “`because in my heart, and before God, I humbly recognize that my actions of irresponsibility are what brought me here. It was extremely irresponsible of me driving in the way I did. I drove very dangerously, putting the lives of other people in danger. My actions did lead to a sad tragedy that made a huge impact on me; a tragedy that brings sadness to my heart and soul, and it has marked me for the rest of my life.”