Man Pleads Not Guilty in Crash That Killed Baby

A 19-year-old Oxnard man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a single charge of vehicular manslaughter stemming from a car crash that killed a 4-month-old baby last month.

Jesus Garcia Buenrrostro appeared briefly in Ventura County Superior Court to enter his plea. His trial is expected to begin next month.

Buenrrostro was behind the wheel Sept. 8 when Jesus Sanchez was crushed to death after the car struck a pickup truck on Saviers Road in south Oxnard.

The baby was sitting on his mother’s lap and was not in a car seat, as required by law. Authorities said the infant probably would have survived if he had been strapped into a safety seat. The mother has not been charged in the case.

Buenrrostro is free on $2,500 bail.