USC Student Who Killed Pedestrian Gets 90-Day Term

A sophomore at USC whose car struck and killed a pedestrian near downtown Los Angeles pleaded guilty to one count of felony vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 90 days in County Jail and three years of felony probation, the district attorney’s office said Thursday.

Yvette Vartanian, 19, a business administration major, entered a guilty plea as the jury was being selected for her trial, said district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

The victim, Jose Mora Delatorre, 56, was a USC employee.

“We felt that although the defendant did not have a prior criminal record, there were some earlier incidents involving her driving, [so the] felony conviction was warranted with jail time,” Gibbons said.

Police said Vartanian was driving a friend to Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 22 in a BMW 528e when she struck Delatorre as he was crossing Olympic Boulevard at Albany Street in what police called an unmarked crosswalk.

Det. Josephine Mapson said two cars had stopped for Delatorre. She said Vartanian drove around the stopped cars and struck the pedestrian.

Delatorre, a supervisor for food services at the university, was pronounced dead at the scene, Mapson said.

Vartanian was taken into custody later that day, Mapson said.

“It wasn’t a hit-and-run. It was negligence on her part. When vehicles are stopped for pedestrians you shall stop. You do not overtake them. That’s what she did,” Mapson said.

The police report of the incident quoted Vartanian as saying: “I saw the guy walking down the street so I slowed down. He started running and he hit the car.”

Vartanian’s attorney could not be reached for comment.