Driver Gets 2-Year Term in Death of Pedestrian, 7

A Guatemalan immigrant whose car struck and killed a 7-year-old girl in a crosswalk was ordered on Thursday to spend two years in state prison. Compton Superior Court Judge Gary Daigh imposed the sentence on Elfido Diaz Marroquin, 24, of South-Central Los Angeles, who had faced as many as six years in jail.

Marroquin pleaded guilty last month to felony manslaughter and hit-and-run charges. Prosecutors said a car driven by Marroquin struck and killed Jennifer Chase and narrowly missed her 12-year-old sister as they were in a crosswalk at 95th and San Pedro streets last Dec. 16.

Marroquin left the scene but was chased by witnesses in two other vehicles until his car crashed into a lamppost at 92nd and Flower streets, where he and his passenger ran away. The passenger was captured by one of the witnesses, but Marroquin managed to escape. He was arrested several nights later at his home on West 78th Street.