[symple_googlemap title=”” location=”1400 block of East Fairhaven Avenue, Santa Ana, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
Vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run charges were filed Tuesday against a convicted drunken driver accused in a hit-and-run crash that killed three 13-year-old girls who were trick-or-treating in Santa Ana on Halloween night.
Jaquinn Ramone Bell, 31, made his initial court appearance on three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and- run causing a death or permanent injury, along with a misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license.
Bail was increased from $530,000 to $1 million for the defendant, whose arraignment was rescheduled to Dec. 16.
Bell could face up to 17 years in prison if convicted of the charges, with sentence-enhancing allegations of personally inflicting great bodily injury and fleeing the scene of a crime, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Bell additionally faces probation violation allegations, including a case dating back to August 2008 when he pleaded guilty to punching his wife and giving her a black eye and a hit-and-run/drunken driving conviction in August of this year.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Keith Burke told reporters that the charges filed so far are appropriate, but noted police are still actively investigating the circumstances that led up to — and may have contributed — to the collision to determine if enhancing the charges is warranted.
Usually, a defendant with a prior drunken driving conviction would be charged with murder if involved in a deadly DUI.
Prosecutors requested the $1 million bail based on the defendant’s criminal history and because he allegedly fled the crash scene, Burke said.
For now, Bell is being represented by defense attorney Robert Hickey, who said he would meet with the defendant’s family to discuss whether he should stay on the case.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the (victims’ families),” Hickey told reporters. “It’s a no-win situation.”
Bell was arrested about 11:30 a.m. Sunday at a Motel 6 in Stanton, according to Santa Ana police Chief Carlos Rojas.
Two other adults, including his mother, were also arrested at the motel – – but later released — and his children were taken into protective custody. His 17-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter were in the vehicle with him at the time of the crash, Rojas said.
Andrea Gonzalez and twin sisters Lexandra Perez and Lexi Perez, all from Santa Ana, were in a crosswalk when they were struck in the 1400 block of East Fairhaven Avenue near Jacaranda Street about 6:45 p.m. Friday by a westbound Honda CRV.
All three girls were pronounced dead at the scene.
Outside the jail courtroom, Gonzalez family spokesman John Dunton pleaded with city officials to install a traffic light at the intersection. He also told reporters that the family was upset with the judges who had let Bell out of custody regularly despite his track record of violating the terms of his probation.
The Gonzalez family “blames the judges. The judges need to be a little harder on crime,” Dunton said. “If he would have been in jail, these victims would be alive today …”
Andrea Gonzalez’s 21-year-old brother, Josafat attended the arraignment but declined comment.
Bell has a lengthy criminal record, dating back to a domestic violence case on Aug. 9, 2008. Bell admitted in a 2009 guilty plea that he “punched my wife … in the face, giving her a black eye,” according to court documents.
Bell was ordered to enroll in a one-year program for batterers with a “drug and alcohol component,” but court records indicate he was found to have violated probation several times over the years for failing to pay fines or fees, completing Caltrans service in lieu of jail time or participating in the court-ordered program.
On June 25, 2010, in Anaheim, he violated a protective order to stay away from his estranged wife. He pleaded guilty three days later and was ordered to serve 30 days in jail, was placed on three years of informal probation and ordered to participate in the program for domestic violence, according to court records.
Most recently, Bell pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to child abuse and endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol and hit-and-run with property damage, all misdemeanors. According to court records, Bell, who had been involved in a vehicle crash in Anaheim three days earlier, was sentenced to 10 days in jail, put on three years of informal probation and ordered to enroll in a child abusers treatment program.
Prior to the fatal crash, Bell had been due in court this Friday for a hearing on his pending divorce.
—City News Service