2 Died : Wrong-Way I-5 Driver Is Charged

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office Friday filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against a Long Beach woman who authorities said caused a fatal accident last month when she drove the wrong way on a freeway and crashed head-on into another car.

The Dec. 6 collision on the Golden State Freeway near Griffith Park killed a Sun Valley couple on their way home from church and seriously injured three other Sun Valley residents who were fellow church members and passengers in the couple’s car.

Julia Williams, 74, identified by the California Highway Patrol as the wrong-way driver, also was seriously injured in the accident and remains hospitalized in stable condition at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. A hospital spokeswoman said Williams has two broken legs and two broken hips.

Expired License

CHP investigators said Williams, who was driving with an expired driver’s license, made a U-turn in the westbound lanes of the Ventura Freeway and took a transition link onto the Golden State Freeway while driving the wrong way.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Barton said Friday that the two felony manslaughter charges were filed against the woman because Williams appeared to have displayed “gross negligence” by making a U-turn on the freeway and driving more than two miles in the wrong direction. He said a conviction would carry a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.

Barton said that a warrant for Williams’ arrest will not be issued until prosecutors and the woman’s defense attorney agree on whether to arraign her in the hospital or await her release.

Neither Barton, of the Glendale DA’s office, nor CHP investigators have interviewed Williams. A friend told investigators, however, that Williams had left her Long Beach home 12 hours before the collision to buy groceries. The accident occurred 25 miles from her home.

Williams crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by Lazaro Basallaje, killing Basallaje, 27, and his wife, Delia, 32, CHP officers said. CHP investigators said Williams’ friend told them that the woman had a history of getting lost.