Jesse Garcia (56) Burned to death in his flipped car, after a woman crashed into him while chasing a motorcycle

[boogieman]

I didn't find a myspace/facebook for either Jesse, or the murderer (but people tend to find them when I can't, so they might be out there.).

I am glad that she was charged with murder, and I really hope the charge sticks. Not only was this a senseless death, but they have a picture of her in the ambulance after the crash and she is appears to be smiling. Fuck her.

The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office this afternoon charged a Santa Rosa woman with murder in connection with a vehicle collision that killed a Santa Rosa man Saturday afternoon.

Heather Ann Howell, 28, did not enter a plea to murder and reckless driving causing great bodily injury. She will be arraigned and have a bail hearing in Sonoma County Superior Court Friday morning.

Howell is being held under no bail in the Sonoma County Jail.

The California Highway Patrol said Howell was chasing a man on a Harley Davidson motorcycle in her 2001 Acura on Hall Road near Mancini Road in unincorporated Sonoma County west of Santa Rosa around 4:45 p.m. Saturday.

Her Acura struck a Lexus then a 1969 Triumph Spitfire driven by 56-year-old Jesse Garcia. The Triumph overturned and caught fire and Garcia died at the scene.

The CHP responded to the collision but turned the investigation over to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office because it appeared the collision might be an intentional, domestic violence incident, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said.

Deputy District Attorney Anne Masterson would not comment on the domestic violence possibility. She said the murder charge includes implied malice based on the evidence and statements from witnesses, who are still being interviewed.

Masterson said the incident is still under investigation.

Sonoma County sheriff's Sgt. Carlos Basurto said this afternoon Howell and her ex-boyfriend, the motorcycle rider, had an argument.

"He took off and she chased him," Basurto said.

The sheriff's office is not identifying the man on the motorcycle because he might be a victim of domestic violence. Basurto also said that the man has been uncooperative with investigators.

Howell's attorney Steve Spiegelman disputed law enforcement's account of the fatal collision.

"There's no way this should be a murder case," he said.

"It was a terrible accident and very unfortunate, but there's got to be a fall person," Spiegelman said. He said Howell is very remorseful.

"There's no information this was a high-speed chase," he said.

Howell is a nursing student at Santa Rosa Junior College and has been attending to her mother who "has a serious medical condition," Spiegelman said.

"She's been with her mother around the clock," he said.

http://rohnertpark.patch.com/article...sh-on-saturday

[g r ee n ey e s]

Is this bitch smiling??

[Ron_NYC]

The sheriff's office is not identifying the man on the motorcycle because he might be a victim of domestic violence. Basurto also said that the man has been uncooperative with investigators.

Ha, crazy.

But that pic can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. She doesn't have to be smiling. She looks flustered and what not. She doesn't look like she's smiling in my opinion, and any defense attorney will easily refute that she's laughing.

[g r ee n ey e s]

I mean, maybe. Either way, she clearly was driving like an insane person. Ugh, that poor man.

[Cat Pajamas]

Title says his car flipped but a Triumph is a motorcycle. BOOGIE, WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOU???

[moosella]

The 1969 Triumph Spitfire does come up as a car when I googled it.

[Cat Pajamas]

I missed the Spitfire part. I felt super smart for a minute there.

[moosella]

I missed the Spitfire part. I felt super smart for a minute there.

No cryface!!

[nestlequikie]

I don't think she is laughing-- looks like a cryface or a screamface to me. So sad, though.

[boogieman]

You all might be right on her not laughing, but crying/being distressed.

New reports say she had been drinking (Big surprise...)

A Sonoma County Superior Court judge denied a bail reduction Friday morning for a nursing student charged with murder in connection with a fatal crash west of Santa Rosa on Saturday afternoon.

Heather Ann Howell, 28, was being held under no bail in the Sonoma County jail that week during the court proceedings. The Santa Rosa woman was charged with reckless driving causing great bodily injury and the murder of Jesse Garcia, 55, of Santa Rosa, who died when Howell's 2001 Acura struck Garcia's Triumph Spitfire on Hall Road in Sonoma County.

Howell allegedly was chasing a man on a Harley Davidson motorcycle when the collision occurred. Her car struck a Lexus before colliding with the

Triumph, which overturned and caught fire, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The man on the motorcycle was believed to be Howell's boyfriend and the chase stemmed from a domestic violence incident, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. The motorcyclist has not been identified.

Deputy District Attorney Anne Masterson disclosed in court Friday morning that alcohol was a factor in the fatal crash.

She told Judge Knoel Owen that Howell admitted alcohol was involved, and that a witness, who she would not identify, also confirmed alcohol was involved, Masterson said.

Results of a Howell's blood test were still pending that day, Masterson said.

Defense attorney Steve Spiegelman said there was no evidence Howell drank alcohol before the collision. He asked the judge to set her bail no higher than $100,000.

Spiegelman said three generations of Howell's family have lived in Sonoma County and she was not a flight risk. He said Howell's 1996 driving under the influence conviction and her 2007 driving on a suspended license conviction were not violent crimes.

Spiegelman said Howell is the only caretaker of her seriously ill mother.

Masterson asked the judge to keep Howell in jail under no bail because of the prior DUI conviction and her admission of alcohol use before the crash.

Howell was scheduled to enter a plea July 27.

Funeral services for Garcia were scheduled for Friday evening and Saturday.

A rosary was scheduled to be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Windsor-Healdsburg Mortuary in Windsor and a mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Windsor. Burial is at the Shiloh District Cemetery in Windsor.

Garcia, an avid soccer player, leaves his wife Diana and a daughter Adriana.

http://beta.local.yahoo.com/news-son...ountain%20View

[HockeyGirl]

It was a terrible accident and very unfortunate, but there's got to be a fall person

f-that I think her responsibility goes a little further than the fall person