Death of a 10-Year-Old Boy by a Drunk Driver

Get out your tissue. This case will tear into you as it did me. I have a unique job/career that I love. There are so many aspects that are perfect for me and my personality. I have seen a lot of death, and the aftermath that it creates with families and friends. I have probably been to over 200 scenes where there was a dead body, or where someone had died. For almost the past four years, I have been a follow up investigator for a traffic division within my city police department. I have been to about 60 fatal accident scenes in that time period. The difference in my current job from my previous jobs with the police department is the long term care of the families that get affected by the death in their families. Most patrol officers may see the family on the day of the incident, have limited contact with the family, and then never see them again. The investigators assigned to my office have a great length of time with the families, talking them through their difficult ordeal, as well as guiding them through the legal process, if any, that they will encounter.

Although my partners tell me that I am really good with the families, deep down inside of me, I am dying myself. It is the most difficult part of my job. I don't mind the phone conversations much, but it is that one on one interaction with a grieving family member that I have a difficult time with. I have observed all kinds of range of emotions; from anger, hysterical crying, to indifference. Like Forest Gump said, "You never know what you're gonna get." This is kind of an understatement, and another aspect as to why it is so difficult for me, and other investigators. The other aspect that is difficult for the families is the immediacy of the death. Their family member may be coming home from work, or the market, and die in an instant. There is no warning.

In my capacity, I am on-call for one week out of the month, sometimes two weeks, but at least one week. It almost never fails that I get called out on Sunday morning, between 2AM and 5AM. The watch commander calls me and I always ask for a quick synopsis of what I am facing, all while trying to wake up from a nice, deep sleep. Usually the synopsis is pretty standard, "Two vehicle collision, one confirmed dead, and one in custody for DUI." This day, though, was different. It started the same, "Two vehicle collision." Then I heard the dreaded words, "10-year-old boy dead." I still get a little emotional over those words. I think of my own children, and my fate as a father, husband, and provider. (10 minute break, composure gained. I have put off writing this article for almost a year).

I get dressed, tell my wife where I am going, and she tells me good luck after her horror of the news. I go to the station, get with my partner, and go to the scene. I get to the scene, and as collisions go, the wreckage was not that significant. Here is what happened:

A 1999 Toyota 4 Runner was stopped at a red light at a not so busy intersection. The light turned green for this father of two. He was coming home from a skiing day trip to a local mountain. His oldest son, Giovanni, is in the back seat. There are only two people in the 4 Runner. Coming southbound was a 1992 Toyota Corolla. The Corolla ran the red light as the 4 Runner entered the intersection. The Corolla hit the passenger side rear quarter panel of the 4 Runner. The impact caused the 4 Runner to veer into a southern direction and hit the curb.

Remember the skiing trip that the dad took with his son. Well, as a "______" you enter your own word, the father let his son sleep in the back seat, WITHOUT HIS SEATBELT. He was only wrapped in a warm blanket. Although the impact was not horribly significant, Giovanni was ejected from the passenger's side rear window. His 10-year-old body was thrust to the ground with enough force to kill him instantly. The paramedics responded, and as any firefighter/paramedic would tell you, "I can't leave a child on the street, I want to save him/her, and transport them to the hospital." Giovanni did not have enough electric pulses in his system to be transported to the hospital, but they took him anyway. They worked on him anyways. They tried to revive him anyways. God bless the Fire Department. Giovanni was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. (Another 10-minute break, two Tylenol for upcoming headache, composure somewhat regained).

The suspect, a 38-year-old, mother of two teenagers, was also transported to the hospital with a laceration to her face (above her eye; she was horribly bloody), and a broken back. She was screaming, "I just want to die, I just want to die." We later find out why she was saying that, besides the fact that she just killed a 10-year-old boy. An inspection of her car reveals a half empty bottle of Tequila on the driver's side floorboard, and the grotesque smell of alcohol.

We conduct our at-scene investigation, and my partner and I respond to the hospital to see if we can't interview our suspect. She is passed out and we get nothing out of her. Officers have her blood drawn and booked it into evidence for an analysis that our crime lab will complete the next day.

The lab results come back the next day. She was a .22BAC (Blood Alcohol Content), or almost three times the legal limit. My partner and I go back to the hospital the next day to interview her. The alcohol is now out of her system, but now she is drugged up on pain medication. Taking that into consideration, we speak with her, in Spanish (my partner is a Puerto Rican from New York), and she is lucid enough to speak with us intelligently. We re-interview her one month later and get the same statement.

She tells us that she works two jobs, as a cook at restaurants. She has two kids of her own, and she is raising her sister's two teenage children after her sister died two years prior. She is a single mom, with the dad not in the picture. She works, and spends time with her kids. She said that she does not date, or drink, until recently. About three months before this collision, she met, and fell in love with a man. Two months later, they made the big plunge and went to Las Vegas, baby. They got married, and the next day, her new husband told her that he had been married for 8 years, and is still married. Shocker! Doesn't that only happen on Jerry Springer?

She comes home, devastated. She hadn't dated anyone, or fallen in love, since she spilt with her husband when her teenage kids were young. Then she falls in love with a married man, whom she didn't know was married. On the day of the collision, he had called her demanding money for the divorce/court proceeding to get the marriage annulled/removed/stricken from county records... Everything else that comes with an unlawful marriage; even if it is in Vegas. She stated that she normally doesn't drink alcohol, but she went to the store, bought the Tequila, and sat in a parking lot drinking. She had many emotions going on inside, including feelings of death and suicide. She had so much to live for, but this was a huge blow to her. She is struggling financially anyway, how is she going to pay for this?

She doesn't quite remember driving, but didn't really care at that point anyways. It was later determined that she was driving 32MPH in a 35MPH zone. If she only saw the red light glaring in front of her. If Giovanni's dad had only put his seatbelt on.... I wouldn't be writing about this.

The suspect's family, and children, supported their mother/sister/friend. They confirmed her statement, the horrible man she fell in love with, the marriage, and problems since. The suspect had no criminal record, and no driving record. She had been driving in the United States for twenty years with no tickets, none. By no driving record, I mean, she didn't have a license. Yes, she is an illegal alien. Can I still call it that? Do you care? I didn't when investigating this case. It wasn't a factor for my office or me. We treated her like anyone else in her situation. We looked at this case fairly and impartially. We look at criminal and driving records, not color of skin, or religious backgrounds. Do you still sympathize with this woman?

We sought criminal charges on the suspect, a felony DUI manslaughter charge that could land her in jail for a minimum of 16 months in state prison, 2 years, or 4 years. We felt that, since she was not speeding, committed only one vehicle code violation, and was intoxicated, that was the appropriate charge to go after. The district attorney's office concurred, filing one count of vehicular manslaughter while DUI.

I had sporadic contact with the father of Giovanni, as he was grieving. I spoke with a family member who stated that Giovanni's mother wouldn't speak with her husband, as she blames him for her son's death. (I must say, I agree with her. A seatbelt would've saved Giovanni). I met the family of Giovanni at the tow yard. I had previously spoken with his father at the hospital, although briefly. I met Giovanni's mother, and younger brother (5 years old). This was the first time that the husband and wife had seen each other since the collision. Again, she blames him for the death. They wanted to see the 4 Runner, as well as get some items from the SUV.

It was really difficult for them, and me. The weirdest thing, and most impactful, was Giovanni's younger brother. Here it had almost been a month since the collision, and this innocent little boy still did not grasp that he will never see his brother again. He was kind of dancing around the tow yard, oblivious to the world around him. Perhaps that is a good thing. They got their belongings, and I could tell through their Spanish, that they were trying to heal and get through the pain.

I got a call from the district attorney's office that they wanted me to re-file the case. They believed that this is a gross vehicular manslaughter case, after conducting some of their own research. This carries a penalty of 4 years minimum, 6 years, or 10 years maximum. As our office was treating this case as similar cases, with similar elements, we believed that the first charge was appropriate. We get about 80 collisions resulting in death a year (just in our area), with the majority going for criminal filing; we believe that we always go for the most appropriate charge. Obviously, the DA's office is in charge once the case is filed, so I did what I was told and re-filed the case, as a higher felony. 191.5(A) PC in the California Penal Code, if anyone is interested. The section for the previous charge has been changed, so I'm not going to put it in.
We had the preliminary hearing. It was a slam-dunk case. The defense attorney had no affirmative defense. What was he going to say, "She didn't do it, she wasn't drunk!" At the sentencing hearing, she was sentenced to 6 years state prison.

Nothing in this world will bring Giovanni back. I never knew the boy, but I'm sure he would have grown up to be a productive member of our society. Isn't that what we hope for all of our children??? I don't care about anything else, but every day, when you get in your car, put on your damn seatbelt. If you have kids, you better make sure that their seatbelts/car seats are properly fastened. The car seat should not have more than one inch of movement, in any direction. Your local police department/highway patrol, should have an officer who has been trained on putting the car seats in properly. Make an appointment, pay money if you have to, but do it right! Don't let Giovanni's story be your own horror!

I guess this article was a little therapeutic for me, and my heart. How is yours? I cried three times writing this piece. If you cried, I hope it was for Giovanni, and the life that he lost. I hope that it is because you are sick of drunk drivers, just as much as I am. I try to not to get emotionally involved in my cases; sometimes it is unavoidable. Sometimes cases bother you long after it has been adjudicated in court. Either way; stop drinking and driving. Wear your seat belts. Drive safely. How many more Giovanni's have to die for America to wake up? How many more brothers grow up without an older brother to take care of them? How many parents have to raise one less child? Wake up America, we're losing the battle here!