Two charged with murder in Christmas Day crash that killed Glendale woman
Two alleged gang members were charged with murder Friday for their roles in a police chase that ended in a Christmas Day crash that killed a Glendale woman, prosecutors said.
Darrell Williams, 22, of Pasadena, and Brittany Washington, 21, of Los Angeles, were each charged with two counts of murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, the L.A. Times reported.
The complaint also includes gang allegations for both suspects, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Prosecutors are asking that bail be set at $3.1 million for Williams and $2.1 million for Washington.
Williams is alleged to have been behind the wheel of a Dodge Durango with Washington in the passenger seat when he failed to pull over for a traffic violation about 8 p.m. Tuesday. He then led a Pasadena police officer and FBI agent on a brief high-speed chase before colliding with a van at Marengo Avenue and Maple Street.
The impact killed Tracey Ongtan, 25, of Glendale and Kendrick Ng, 11, of Daly City. Three other passengers were seriously injured in the collision.
During the pursuit, one of four people in the fleeing SUV discarded a loaded handgun that Pasadena police later recovered. While officers arrested two other passengers in the SUV, prosecutors declined to press charges against them.
If convicted, Williams and Washington face life in prison. They were expected to be arraigned Friday at L.A. County Superior Court in Pasadena.
Williams was on parole and the target of a $95,000 warrant for false imprisonment related to an incident in La Verne at the time of the crash, said Pasadena Police Lt. Tracey Ibarra. The warrant was triggered by a domestic violence incident on Sept. 6, 2011, said La Verne Police Sgt. Chris Fenner.
According to Los Angeles County Superior Court records, Williams was convicted of the domestic violence charge later that month. He was also convicted of furnishing alcohol to an underage drinker on July 27.
Pasadena Deputy Police Chief Darryl Qualls said investigators are still working to determine whether occupants of the Durango were involved in a shooting earlier in the day in Pasadena.
Victor McClinton, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department technician, was killed by stray gunfire at 11 a.m. Tuesday outside his home on the 1900 block of Newport Street.
Another man, who police say may have been the intended target of the drive-by shooting, was wounded and taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital.
McClinton, 49, volunteered as youth sports director for the Brotherhood Community Youth Sports League.
Staff writer Joe Piasecki contributed to this report.
-- Adolfo Flores, Los Angeles Times