A 51-year-old woman was behind the wheel of a car speeding away from a botched robbery of a gambler when she ran over the victim, making her guilty of murder, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday.
Barbara Ann Hamel pleaded guilty in December 2013 to second-degree murder, but she changed her mind at sentencing, claiming her co-defendants drugged her before the killing, and she was allowed to have her case go before a jury.
Co-defendants Tad Allen Carroll, 46, formerly of Buena Park, and Michael William Ross, 31, formerly of Long Beach, earlier accepted plea deals to second-degree murder so they could have a chance at parole someday.
Hamel, who was a Long Beach resident at the time of her arrest, faces a count of murder with a special circumstance allegation of murder during a robbery, second-degree robbery and attempted second-degree robbery. Her plea deal included a 15-years-to-life sentence, but now she faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if she is convicted at trial.
Hamel is accused in the Sept. 3, 2010, killing of 55-year-old Chi Ngoc Bui in Santa Ana.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin showed jurors surveillance video from the Hawaiian Gardens Casino where Bui won about $10,000 the night he was killed. As Bui and his friend, Kim Nguyen, cashed in their chips and left the casino Ross tailed them and relayed descriptions of the victims via a cell phone, Yellin said.
Nguyen took the wheel of Bui’s car for the drive home to Santa Ana about 4 a.m. because he had been drinking, Yellin said.
As Nguyen was looking for a parking space near her residence about 4:30 a.m., the car Hamel and Carroll were in sped up to pass and cut the victims off, Yellin said. Hamel characterized it as a “Batman move” in questioning with police.
Nguyen “slammed on her brakes” and Carroll emerged from the vehicle that cut the victim off, Yellin said.
Carroll initially confronted Nguyen to demand money, but she was “frozen in fear,” prompting Carroll to then try to rob Bui in the passenger seat, Yellin said.
The 6-foot-4 Carroll towered over the slight, 5-foot-6 Bui, but the victim was determined not to give up his winnings, Yellin said. Bui battled with the knife-wielding Carroll, managing to cut his attacker with the weapon, Yellin said.
Meanwhile, Hamel turned the car around in the cul de sac while Nguyen started running away and dialing 911, Yellin said.
Carroll jumped into the car during Hamel’s getaway, and she ran over the head of Bui, who had been incapacitated during the struggle and was lying on the street, Yellin said. Carroll was shouting how he had been cut in the shoulder area during the fight, the prosecutor added.
A tipster told casino security how Carroll and Ross were involved in the botched robbery, which led authorities to Hamel, Yellin said.
Hamel’s attorney, Kenneth Norelli of the Alternate Defender’s Office, reserved the right to make an opening statement later in the trial.
— City News Service