Drunk Driver Receives 6-Year Term in Death of Rancho P.V. Teen-Ager

More than 50 tearful relatives and friends of a 15-year-old Rolling Hills High School sophomore killed by a drunk driver watched Tuesday as the man was sentenced to six years in state prison for vehicular manslaughter.

Raul Sanchez Ramirez, 27, of Lawndale sat expressionless, listening to an interpreter, as his attorney asked Torrance Superior Court Judge Jean Matusinka to impose a four-year sentence.

Saying Ramirez, a restaurant janitor, is sincerely sorry for the death of 15-year-old Brady Grasinger of Rancho Palos Verdes, defense attorney Stephen Garcia argued that his client would start his life over if released quickly from prison.

“Nothing that is done can bring the young lady back,” Garcia said. “Mr. Ramirez’s life has also been shattered by this.”

But Matusinka, who noted that Ramirez was driving on a suspended license and that his placement in a drug treatment program--after a misdemeanor conviction last July for possession of a controlled substance--did nothing to prevent the Nov. 10 crash that killed Grasinger, said it was time Ramirez was forced to face his problem.

“It’s a miracle that . . . five or six people weren’t killed that night,” Matusinka said, as she imposed the stiffer sentence. “Everybody on the roadway at that time of day was at risk because of this defendant’s behavior.”

Ramirez will be eligible for parole in about three years.

According to court records, Ramirez’s blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit as he sped down Hawthorne Boulevard at roughly 65 m.p.h. at 3 a.m. Witnesses told police that Ramirez narrowly missed another car stopped for a red light at 177th Street in Redondo Beach before rear-ending the one in which Grasinger was riding.

Ramirez, who pleaded no contest last month to a single count of vehicular manslaughter, told a probation officer that he knew he was speeding but that he doubted he was traveling as fast as witnesses said. He also said the car Grasinger was riding in changed lanes in front of him before the crash.

Before sentencing Ramirez, Matusinka reviewed a sheaf of 71 letters from people describing their feelings for Grasinger. Included in the stack was a letter from the girl’s mother, Sandra Ching, written after the girl’s memorial service.

“I cry so much and for so long that I feel as though I am drowning in my own tears. . . . A part of me died that night, too, and life has no purpose for me anymore,” Ching wrote.

Dozens of other people wrote letters in support of Ramirez, whom they described as a good, hard-working man.

Following the court hearing, Grasinger’s friends said they do not believe that Ramirez is sorry for what he did.

“He never said anything. He let his attorney do it. He could at least say it himself,” said Jennifer Wright, 15, who suffered minor injuries in the Nov. 10 crash.

Friends of Grasinger said her death has left a lingering impact on them.

“It makes you realize that it’s so easy, that anybody now could go, just like that,” said Lelana Cassidy, 16. “It makes you more loving toward your friends.”

Grasinger’s father, Larry, said his daughter’s unabashed affection and concern for so many people earned her the nickname “the Little Psychiatrist.”

“She was a delightful young girl, a parent’s dream,” he said. “She delighted in seeing other people succeed and would go to any lengths to make others successful.”

He said a friend of the family has created a scholarship fund in Grasinger’s name for girls graduating from any of the three Palos Verdes high schools. Applications and further information are available by writing to the fund at P.O. Box 2953, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA, 90274.