A 25-year-old man pleaded not guilty Thursday to a felony hit-and-run charge stemming from the death of a 77-year-old woman as she crossed a street in South Los Angeles last month.
Brandon Rosendo Mazariego of South Los Angeles is charged in the Nov. 13 crash that fatally injured Maria Asuncion Reynoso as she crossed 28th Street in a crosswalk, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The woman was struck by a white Nissan Armada that was turning left on to 28th Street from South Budlong Avenue, Los Angeles police said.
Mazariego allegedly made no effort to stop, according to Deputy District Attorney Jane Brownstone.
“After the collision, the vehicle reversed and fled northbound on Budlong Avenue from 28th Street at a high rate of speed,” according to a statement released by the LAPD.
Reynoso was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.
LAPD detectives located surveillance video and identified the vehicle, according to police.
Mazariego — who allegedly has a 2016 conviction for first-degree burglary with a person present — was arrested two days later. The SUV was also impounded, police said.
He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Dec. 20, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.
If convicted as charged, Mazariego could face up to eight years in state prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.