Plea Entered in Fatal Crash
Heather Tolles of South Pasadena pleaded not guilty Thursday in South Bay Municipal Court to two counts of murder and three other felony charges stemming from a May 5 traffic collision in Manhattan Beach that killed a pregnant woman.
Tolles, 19, is charged with the murder of Laura Obele, 26, and her fetus. The Manhattan Beach woman was scheduled to give birth to a baby boy three weeks after the accident.
Tolles, who was allegedly under the influence of LSD, is also charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of drugs and evading a police officer.
She is scheduled to face a preliminary hearing June 12 in South Bay Municipal Court.
Police say Tolles and a friend took LSD outside a Saturday afternoon Grateful Dead concert at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, then drove through Manhattan Beach. Tolles allegedly ran a red light while driving north on Highland Avenue and collided with Obele, who was driving east on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, just four blocks from her apartment.
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