Font ResizeProsecutors don't believe Angelica Lopez meant to kill anyone with her car two years ago -- but they say Lopez drove even though she knew the brakes were faulty.
On July 28, 2007, Lopez lost control of the 1998 Ford Explorer while driving westbound on 800 South, starting from the top of the hill by East High School.
She ran a red light at 900 East, and another at 800 East, where observers, who estimated her speed at between 40 and 50 mph, said she had activated her emergency flashers.
At 700 East, she ran another red light and smashed into a motorcycle driven by 65-year-old Jerry Ben Layne, who died of his injuries.
Lopez exited her car exclaiming, "My brakes wouldn't work. My brakes wouldn't work," according to court documents.
Charged with class A misdemeanor negligent homicide, Lopez, 26, last month pleaded no contest and 3rd District Judge Michele Christiansen sentenced to 80 days in jail, followed by deportation.
"She didn't go out that day expecting to kill someone," Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill said Monday. "But there was criminal negligence here."
During an interview with police, Lopez admitted she was having brake problems. She said a friend of her brother had installed new brake pads two weeks earlier, but the brakes were still not working properly and she was supposed to bring the vehicle in for additional work, according to police reports and court documents.
Following the crash,
The Salt Lake City Prosecutor's Office filed the negligent homicide charge on July 22, just six days before the statute of limitations would have expired.
Gill said his office received the case last May, after the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office declined to file any charges.
