Driver, 96, Pleads No Contest in Hit-and-Run

Ninety-six-year-old Byron Cox, one of the oldest people in Los Angeles County ever to be charged with a felony, pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge that he fled the scene after his car hit and killed a 15-year-old girl in a crosswalk three months ago.

The Santa Monica man, who suffered a stroke in the days after the Nov. 5 incident, raised a shaky voice in Santa Monica Superior Court as he entered the plea. Although the hit-and-run charge carries a penalty of up to four years in prison and a $10,000 fine, his attorney said she does not expect Cox to serve any time after he is sentenced March 3.

Brandi Joy Mitock of Woodland Hills died after being struck by Cox’s 1989 Buick LeSabre as she stepped into a painted crosswalk at the intersection of 21st Street and Montana Avenue. Her death spurred calls for improved crosswalk safety.

Police investigators found that neither Mitock nor Cox saw the other, and that the girl did not give Cox enough time to stop his vehicle. Several eyewitnesses said they saw Cox, who held a valid license, stop and get out of the car briefly before he drove away from the scene. He quickly turned himself into police and was released on his own recognizance.

Tuesday’s no contest plea--which forfeits Cox’s rights to offer a defense--was made in order to “put closure to this issue not only for [the Cox family] but for the Mitock family,” said Cox’s attorney Karen Filipi. He had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge.