Claudia Cabrera was driving with a suspended license when she hit a student & another

[Sister Iroz]

LOS ANGELES - A woman accused of being behind the wheel of a car that killed a University of Southern California student and badly injured another in a hit-and-run was driving with a suspended license, police said Friday.

Claudia Cabrera, 30, was driving with a suspended license for failing to pay a ticket for a routine traffic violation when she struck a University of Southern California student and another person at a crosswalk, First Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said.

She was taken into custody late Thursday on investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter and police were seeking her husband Josue (pronounced HOH'-sway) Luna as a person of interest, he said.

McDonnell also said the couple's 7-month-old son was also in the car.

Adrianna Bachan, 18, of Santa Barbara was killed and Marcus Garfinkle, also 19, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was seriously injured when a sedan ran a red light and struck them at 3 a.m. Sunday in a crosswalk.

Witnesses had said the car stopped only so a passenger could get out and pull Garfinkle off the hood. He remained hospitalized with two broken legs and other injuries.

Bachan's mother wept at a news conference at USC after the arrest was announced.

“Nothing is going to bring my baby back but I do want justice,” Carmen Bachan said, who called Cabrera “an animal.”

Garfinkle's mother, Barbara Vreeland, called it a “heinous crime and I, too, want to see justice for our families,” she said.

McDonnell said the arrest came from tips and that rewards totaling $235,000 were a factor.

Bachan and Garfinkle were returning to their on-campus residences when they were struck.

Cabrera was being held on $1 million bail at the Van Nuys women's jail, and a case will be presented to the district attorney, McDonnell said.

A phone listing for Claudia Cabrera in Los Angeles was not in service Friday.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/s...un0403-ON.html

This is horrible and Claudia the cunt should have never been driving and this would have never happened. She needs to pay for this crime and she is lucky her 7 month old wasn't hurt thank goodness. Fucking bitch! I hope they find her husband.

Adrianna I am so sorry your life was taken from you so suddenly and tragically but may you RIP.

Marcus my prayers and thoughts are with you for healing from your injuries.

[Wicked Doll]

Fuck you Claudia! I am dumbfounded by the passenger getting out just to remove one of the victims from the hod of the car. WTF? Stupid bitch. Lock her up and chuck the key. She's obviously useless.

[donegaveup]

My god...talk about cold- blooded, stopping only to remove a victim from her hood? It would have been sweet justice if another car would have come along and hit her while she was pulling one of her victims from her hood. I don't think I would even be capable of driving if I mowed down a couple of people.

RIP Adrianna, with a prayer out to your mom. Good thoughts to Marcus for a speedy recovery.

[Unamused Cat]

Update:

The final suspect in the March 29 crash, which killed the 18-year-old USC student, was arrested Friday at the San Ysidro border crossing at about 5:30 p.m. Friday while attempting to cross into the U.S. from Mexico, police said.

Josue Luna, 32, was taken from San Diego to Los Angeles and booked as a suspected accessory to the crime.

Luna posted a $50,000 bail at noon Saturday to secure release from the LAPD 77th Street Station. Police did not announce the arrest until after Luna posted bail.

Well, they can say "adios" to him now that he's out on bond. Bah!

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loca...SC-Arrest.html

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A husband and wife pleaded no contest Thursday in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a USC student and severely injured another as they walked home last year from a fraternity party near campus.

The incident generated outrage after witnesses reported seeing a passenger in the couple's car hauling the body of the injured student out of the vehicle's broken windshield and dumping him onto the sidewalk before the car sped off.
[...]

On Thursday, Carmen Bachan said she was surprised by the plea but relieved that the family would be spared the anguish of a trial. Speaking to reporters at Griffith Park, where her daughter enjoyed riding ponies as a little girl, she criticized the maximum possible sentence -- seven years in prison for Luna and eight for Cabrera.

"If your daughter had been killed like that, is eight years enough? Is seven years enough? No, I don't think it is," Bachan said. "They never apologized. Never. Ever."

Luna's attorney, Jeffrey S. Benice, said the plea showed that the couple took responsibility for their actions, which had destroyed their lives. Neither Cabrera, a preschool teacher, nor Luna, a contractor, had criminal records, Benice said, and the couple had hoped to resolve the case earlier but could not agree on a deal with prosecutors.

"They feel terrible, as any normal human being would," he said. "Their lives have been tragically altered, and they take responsibility for that."

The couple entered pleas to a felony count of hit-and-run and inflicting great bodily injury just before their trial was to begin in downtown Los Angeles. Cabrera also pleaded to a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter. A no-contest plea has the same effect in criminal court as a guilty plea. The couple face at least three years in prison when they are sentenced May 24, Benice said.
[...]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,1345237.story