As far as I'm concerned, this woman deserves everything they want to throw at her:
Mother is charged in her 3-year-old son's death
Wilmington woman had been cited for not properly restraining her children before fatal car accident in Carson, which also injured other youngsters.
By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze
A Wilmington mother repeatedly cited for failing to secure her young children in car safety seats has been charged with murder following a crash in Carson that killed her 3-year-old son.
Motorists, police officers and firefighters found screaming children -- including two babies -- thrown about Angela Marie Cerpa's 1997 Honda Civic after the April 5 crash. They scooped up injured children flung into back seats and the dashboard and watched as paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the battered boy, Carson sheriff's Sgt. Russell Shapley said.
"I was glad I wasn't one of the first people out there," Shapley said. "One of the deputies who's been here as long as I have -- roughly 18 years -- said he'd just as soon never see that again."
No one is certain why, but Cerpa, 23, veered off Figueroa Street as she drove south near Lomita Boulevard shortly before noon. Her car plowed head-on into a tree at 40 to 45 mph.
Investigators, who are awaiting the results of blood tests to determine whether Cerpa was under the influence, found no skid marks to show she braked, Shapley said.
Witnesses rushed over immediately to help, finding her hysterical children tossed about the car.
"The eyewitness observed none of the children had seat belts on," Shapley said.
Cerpa's 3-year-old son, Jeremy, seated in the front passenger seat, went into cardiac arrest at the scene. He also had a broken leg.
Jeremy died about six hours later at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. An autopsy ruled the cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries -- "auto-passenger vs. fixed object," said Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey.
Behind the driver, 6-month-old Leah Ruiz was flung about the car in a car seat that had not been secured. Jacob Ruiz, 18 months, was seated in the middle of the rear seat and also was tossed about, Shapley said.
At the right rear, 4-year-old Jesus broke his right leg, Shapley said.
State law requires that children are secured in an appropriate child passenger restraint, either a safety seat or booster seat, until they are at least 6 years old or weigh at least 60 pounds.
All should have been in properly secured child safety seats or booster seats, Shapley said.
Department of Motor Vehicles records show that Cerpa had repeated driver's license suspensions and convictions for failing to properly secure her children. Her license was suspended at the time of the crash.
Cerpa's license was suspended twice since 2003 for being a "negligent operator," records showed.
Her license was finally suspended on March 20 for failing to turn in an insurance certificate.
She was convicted twice after receiving tickets on Nov. 25, 2002, and May 28, 2003, for failure to utilize a child passenger restraint system, the records show.
The first ticket also carried a conviction for driving without lights during darkness, and the second ticket included a conviction of driving at an unsafe speed for prevailing conditions.
In September 2003, she also was convicted of a hit-and-run crash with property damage, the records show.
Cerpa, who broke her leg in the April 5 crash, told investigators in an interview that she knew the importance of wearing seat belts, Shapley said.
"It just shows a certain amount of arrogance or disregard for her passengers," Shapley said.
Asked why the 4-year-old was not belted, Cerpa told deputies, "He doesn't like to wear it," Shapley said.
Cerpa's demeanor following the death of her own child surprised deputies, Shapley said.
The woman appeared upset that she had a broken leg and had to go to the station, but did not seem remorseful.
"We all kind of talked about it," Shapley said. "She didn't appear to be in shock. She appeared to be inconvenienced -- 'Let's-get-this-going' kind of a thing."
Cerpa's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Aparna Voleti, said sheriff's deputies got the wrong impression of her client's feelings.
"She is clearly suffering," Voleti said. "It's a tragedy for everyone that's been involved. It may have been from shock. She went through quite a bit."
Traffic investigators took their reports to the Compton branch of the District Attorney's Office last week, seeking to obtain charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Prosecutors on April 15 filed the manslaughter charge, but -- in a rare move -- added a stronger murder count because of Cerpa's record, said Jane Robison, a D.A.'s office spokeswoman.
"She had been cited twice for not having proper child car seats," Robison said.
A manslaughter conviction could bring a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. A second-degree murder conviction can bring up to 15 years.
Four counts of child abuse also were filed against Cerpa, who is held on $1.45 million bail.
She pleaded not guilty Wednesday. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for May 25 in Compton Superior Court.
Voleti said prosecutors overcharged the case.
"We can only hope that justice will be served in this case," Voleti said. "There was clearly no intent to injure any of her children."
Charges against a parent in a child restraint seat case are rare, said Stephanie Tombrello, executive director of SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A, an Altadena-based organization.
Lesia Smith-Pappas of Santa Clarita was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in 1996 following a crash that killed her 3-month-old son. Although the boy was in a car seat, it was improperly buckled and he suffocated when the seat became wedged against the van door.
"I would hope this would be a cautionary tale," Tombrello said. "We are there to try to prevent these things. It grieves us greatly."
Cerpa's other children were placed with grandparents. Their father is an inmate at the California Institution for Men in Chino, police said.
Staff writer Stephanie Walton contributed to this article.
Posted by Valkyre at April 22, 2005 05:22 PM