A man suspected of driving drunk, speeding through a red light and causing a crash in Pomona that killed three women returning from a baby shower pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and DUI charges.
Victor Siharath, 36, is charged with three counts of murder and one count of DUI causing bodily injury in connection with the March 2 crash that also left two other people injured, including a 12-year-old girl.
At a news conference announcing the criminal case earlier this month, District Attorney George Gascón said Siharath ran a red light while traveling “well above the speed limit of 35 mph” and slammed into another vehicle carrying five people.
The Pomona resident has a prior DUI conviction in 2014 from San Bernardino County, and he was given a legal warning at the time that if he drove drunk again and caused a death that he could be charged with murder, according to Gascón.
The deadly crash occurred at about 11 p.m. at White Avenue and Phillips Boulevard, the Pomona Police Department reported.
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner identified two of the women who died as Alejandra Olaez, 33, and Yesenia Ochoa, 33, both of Pomona and both passengers in the car that was struck. Also killed was the driver of the car, Lorena Morales, 58, of Montclair, Gascón said.
Morales’ husband — who was in the passenger seat — and Olaez’s 12-year-old daughter — who was in the back seat — were injured, Gascón said.
“This is a very close-knit family and friends that had just been celebrating the anticipation of a new life when the tragedy struck,” the district attorney said.
Ochoa’s cousin, Cindy Ramos, told reporters earlier this month, “This is a terrible tragedy, you know, of innocent people that were doing a celebration of a new life, and we just want justice for our families that were left behind … the children that were left behind.”
She said the victims’ families want Siharath “to be prosecuted to the fullest extent,” and said she feels that Siharath “doesn’t deserve any type of sympathy from anybody.”
Relatives said Ochoa was in the process of adopting her 11-year-old nephew when she was killed. The nephew, Brian Gonzalez, told ABC7 at a recent vigil that Ochoa was “a loving mother.”
“I feel like her time was way too short,” he said. “Although I do know she died peacefully and she died loving me. I wanted her to see me grow up.”
Siharath was arrested by Pomona police the night of the crash, and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.
The district attorney said a preliminary alcohol screening indicated that he was driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15% — nearly twice the legal limit — although he said then that final blood alcohol test results had not been turned over.
The charges against Siharath include allegations that he caused bodily injury and/or death to more than one victim, personally inflicted great bodily injury on two of the surviving victims and willfully refused to submit to and/or willfully failed to complete a chemical test or tests, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
He is due back in a Pomona courtroom May 9, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to require him to stand trial.
Siharath could face life in prison if convicted as charged, Gascón said.