Suspect in Fatal Hit-and-Run Free on $100,000 Bail

Danny David Ornelas, charged with murder in the hit-and-run death of a Newport Beach woman, was quietly released on bail a month ago, authorities confirmed Saturday.

Ornelas, 19, of Huntington Park, was released from Orange County Jail on Nov. 11 after posting $100,000 bail, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard M. King said.

“Our information was that someone put up the bond to a bondsman, but we don’t know who raised the bail,” King said.

Ornelas, who authorities say was drunk at the time of the crash, was able to post bail after it was reduced at an October court hearing from $250,000.

Prosecutors had objected to the bail reduction, arguing that Ornelas fled the crash scene and might flee again if freed on bail.

Ornelas also failed to appear in court last year on a traffic violation, prosecutors noted.

King said Saturday that he still feels that letting Ornelas out of jail is a risk. “My view is the same as it was before. The bail should not have been reduced and for the same reasons.”

Relatives of Debbie Ann Killelea, the woman killed Sept. 1, expressed frustration at Ornelas’ release.

“It’s a disappointment that he is out on bail,” said Michael Kilfoy, Killelea’s brother. “That he wouldn’t show up would be a concern to everyone. But he has an obligation, and if he is man enough he will meet that obligation.”

Ornelas could not be reached for comment Saturday. His attorney, Ralph Bencangey, had argued that bail should be reduced because Ornelas has no past criminal record.

Bencangey has contended that Killelea’s death was an accident she may have contributed to by moving in front of the oncoming car. Killelea, 37, was hit while she and her two young sons were walking in an alley behind her home on East Ocean Boulevard.

Her sons, Michael, 10, and Joe, 6, managed to jump to safety.

The grisly crash was videotaped by Ornelas’ passenger.

Police said Ornelas’ blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit when he careened down the Balboa Peninsula alley in excess of 50 m.p.h.

Prosecutors allege that Ornelas was angered when Killelea, standing toward the side of the alley, placed her hands on her hips in an apparent gesture for him to slow down, and that he deliberately swerved the car in her direction.

In a jailhouse interview with The Times, Ornelas denied hitting Killelea on purpose but admitted that he was drunk.

Ornelas said he and two friends spent the day at Newport Beach body surfing and drinking rum and beer and decided to videotape some of the beach scenes.

At the October preliminary hearing, one of the friends testified that Ornelas went to get the camera from the car but inexplicably drove away, taking along the other friend, who held the camera in the front seat.

Ornelas told a Times reporter that he was majoring in photography and film at school but insisted that he did not deliberately intend to film the crash.

His trial is scheduled for Feb. 15.