CA Drunk illegal kills in Oakland

Prosecutor: Nephew said driver in East Oakland crash didn't care
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

An Oakland man charged Monday with murdering two children in a Thanksgiving night hit-and-run crash told his 17-year-old nephew moments before impact that he didn't care if he or the teenager died as a result of his speeding, a prosecutor said.
Carmelo Salas, 28, was charged with murder in the deaths of Stephanie Cervantez, 14, and her 4-year-old cousin, Jacklin Munguia-Herrera, for allegedly running a stop sign in East Oakland and crashing his Ford Expedition sport utility vehicle into a Ford Mustang carrying the victims about 7:20 p.m. Thursday.
Salas fled after the crash at 89th Avenue and D Street but was arrested early the next morning, police said.
He was charged with murder under the theory of implied malice, which is defined as engaging in an unlawful act done in "conscious disregard" of the risk to human life, prosecutor Norbert Chu said.
Salas told his nephew, who was in the SUV with him, that he wasn't afraid to die and that he would take his nephew with him, Chu said. Salas was going as fast as 80 mph in a 25-mph zone, and the nephew warned him seconds before impact that the Mustang was approaching, the prosecutor said.
Salas was also charged with two counts of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury for hurting Jacklin's mother, Laura Herrera, 23, who was driving the Mustang, and Herrera's daughter, Evalyn Munguia, 3. Both Herrera and Munguia remain hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
Salas was also charged with kidnapping his nephew to ride with him in the SUV, Chu said. The nephew feared for his safety because he knew Salas could be "volatile" when he was drinking, Chu said. Police said the nephew helped identify the suspect.
Police believe Salas was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. But prosecutors didn't charge him with DUI because several hours elapsed before he was arrested, making it impossible to measure his blood-alcohol level when the accident happened.
Salas is also the subject of a hold by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because he is in the United States illegally from Mexico, authorities said.