Police veterans with decades of experience who were interviewed by thefrontpageonline.com said they never had heard of such a “peculiar” charge being brought against someone merely riding in a car.
“I am not really being critical,” said one Culver City officer. “Just commenting. I understand, I think, how the D.A. came to the conclusion he did. Still, I am astounded. I presume the physical evidence at the scene corroborates the charges that the D.A. filed.
“I am not involved in the investigation, but of course I have been following the case.
“To charge the passenger with murder, I would think that the tire marks showed a sudden, violent turn before the car jumped the sidewalk and struck the people.
“If they had felt the driver were primarily at fault, the evidence would show the car had just sort of drifted out of its lane.
“Another possibility is that some of the (fifteen) students in the group may have seen what happened and told the police.”
Who Ever Heard of It?
The veteran cop was not alone in his amazement. “Unprecedented in my experience,” said another officer with more than twenty-five years in police work.
Police say the boyfriend and girlfriend had been quarreling as they drove north along National Boulevard in the Hayden Tract. Just ahead of them, on the sidewalk, were fifteen students and two teachers from Turning Point, a very low-profile private school in the equally low-profile Hayden Tract section of Culver City.
The school group had walked several blocks to Syd Kronenthal Park for recreational activity that could not be accommodated on their concrete campus.
Conflicting stories told by the driver and the passenger seem to be at the root of the conflict over what happened.
According to sources, the woman driver said her boyfriend, in anger, grabbed the wheel, causing her to lose control.
The passenger, Reynaldo Cruz, nineteen, of Los Angels, was charged with second-degree murder in the violent death last Wednesday of Turning Point School teacher Carrie Phillips, twenty-four years old, of Santa Monica. The passenger faces fifteen years to life if found guilty.
Meanwhile, the driver, Laura Samayoa, twenty, who tried to flee, according to an eyewitness, only will face the lesser charge of leaving the scene of an accident in which a death was involved. If convicted, her maximum sentence would be four years.
Several officers found it intriguing that in allegedly attempting to flee the scene of the accident, the driver and the passenger chose to go in opposing directions.
Officials said there an upside to the fact that Mr. Cruz was charged with second-degree murder:
The uniqueness of the charge, they believe, will help to keep a media light focused on the tragedy while it proceeds through the courts during the next months and years.