Man Charged With Murder in Collision
The Ventura County grand jury returned a murder indictment Wednesday against a Ventura man accused of causing a fatal traffic collision during a high-speed pursuit by the California Highway Patrol.
Antonio De La Cruz Morales, 21, was indicted for second-degree murder in connection with an alcohol-related crash Nov. 20 that claimed the life of 16-year-old Victoria Lee Gonzales of Bakersfield.
The girl was a passenger in a van driven by Bakersfield resident Richard Ybarra when Morales’ pickup truck plowed into the rear of the van while driving at high speed on the Santa Paula Freeway. Gonzales was thrown from the vehicle and run over.
Morales’ blood alcohol level was later determined to be 0.22%, nearly three times the legal maximum of 0.08%, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Don Glynn.
With the indictment, Morales becomes the fourth person to be charged with murder for an alcohol-related crash in Ventura County since 1981, when the Supreme Court allowed such charges to be filed.
He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Ventura County Superior Court, and is being held on $250,000 bail.
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