SAN DIEGO : Motorist Sentenced in Hit-Run Death

A Mexican national who pleaded guilty to a hit-and-run accident that killed one woman and severely injured another was sentenced Monday to 10 months in jail.

Even though Bernardino Montecinos drove away from the site of the Aug. 2 accident, Municipal Judge Michael B. Orfield said the defendant was not responsible for the tragedy in Logan Heights.

“I don’t believe this accident was your fault,” Orfield said to the defendant. “But you have to live with the knowledge that you failed to stop.”

Barbara Jean Rivers, the 35-year-old woman killed in the accident, was under the influence of both alcohol and cocaine, Orfield said. He also noted that the evidence proved that the victims were wearing dark clothing when they walked in front of Montecinos’ car.

Sharon Alexander, 30, was severely injured in the late-night accident and had alcohol in her bloodstream at the time, the judge said.

However, although the two women may have brought the accident upon themselves, the judge said that Montecinos’ failure to stop was “deplorable” because he had medical training as a nurse in the Mexican Army.

In an unusual move, Orfield invited family and friends of the victims into his chambers to discuss the sentence, which he said may appear to be light to those who knew the victims.