Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 01/24/08

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

DEFENDANT SENTENCED IN VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER CASE
INVOLVING DEATH OF SONOMA SENIOR CITIZEN

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced today that a woman who killed an elderly pedestrian in a crosswalk in Sonoma in June 2006 was sentenced to jail and three years of formal probation.

Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Gary Medvigy sentenced Maria Diaz DeLeon to 30 days in the Sonoma County Jail and ordered her taken into custody to begin serving her sentence immediately. In addition to jail time and probation, DeLeon was ordered not to drive a motor vehicle and to pay restitution. She was also ordered to participate in a local program called Restorative Resources, which will determine additional terms of her probation that could include community service and making amends to the victim’s family.

Annamarie Rose Simmons, 81, was walking in the daytime in a marked and lighted crosswalk at 5th Street West and Studley Street on June 11, 2006, when she was struck and killed by DeLeon, who was driving a Dodge pickup. Simmons was on her daily walk to visit her granddaughter, who worked at a nearby grocery store. The crosswalk was equipped with flashing warning lights that Simmons had activated prior to stepping in the crosswalk. At the time, DeLeon was an unlicensed driver who had failed to pass the written portion of a driving test on three different occasions. She pled no contest to one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and driving without a license in November of 2007.

Deputy District Attorney Barbara Nanney was the assigned prosecutor on the case. She was assisted by District Attorney Investigator Roslyn Eliaser and Victim Advocate Kasey Halcon. Deputies with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case.