Parents Await Justice in Hit-and-Run Deaths

Carmen and Bob Pack lost both their children when a car veered across traffic and onto a sidewalk, striking the youngsters as they were going for ice cream with their mother and friends.

The Packs didn’t stop parenting that day, seeing that even in death, their children needed them. They have fought for prosecution of the driver for alleged intoxication and for state laws that make it harder for drunken drivers to expunge DUI convictions and regain their licenses.

“It’s very hard to live with,” Bob Pack said. “To have to go through that with your children is just ... unbearable.”

Jimena Barreto, a nanny with a string of drunken-driving convictions, doesn’t dispute that she was driving the car that struck Troy, 10, and Alana, 7, as they rode their scooter and bike down a sidewalk in Danville, a suburb of San Francisco, on Oct. 26, 2003. She does deny being drunk or drugged.

Barreto, 46, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a crime, possession of cocaine and felony hit-and-run. A native of Colombia, Barreto could be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

Jury selection in the murder trial has been postponed until Monday while Contra Costa County court officials put together a bigger pool of potential jurors.

Barreto was arrested two days after the crash, after police traced calls in which the prosecutor alleges she begged the manager of her building to grab cash and flush away wine and cocaine in her apartment. She has been jailed ever since in lieu of $1 million bail.

Witnesses will include Arnold and Theresa Cunha, who said they watched as the car swerved across two lanes without braking and smashed into the small group on the sidewalk.

Witnesses, including the Cunhas and Carmen Pack, say they remember Barreto saying: “I’m not from this country. I’m going to go to jail” and “Those damn pills, those damn pills for my back.”

Carmen Pack was struck in the knees by her son’s scooter, but was able to limp over to Barreto’s car and take away the keys.

Barreto hailed a passing van, but that driver became suspicious and returned her to the scene. She allegedly disappeared when the van driver tried to get an officer’s attention.

Authorities say Barreto had been convicted four times of driving under the influence and her license had been suspended nine times. Records showed recent arrests for drunk and disorderly conduct.

Prosecutors were initially reluctant to pursue murder charges because they didn’t have blood and alcohol tests from the time of the accident.

“It’s like everyone was saying she wasn’t impaired, this was just an accident, so we are going to charge her with manslaughter,” Bob Pack said. “We weren’t going to put up with that.”

Under pressure from the Packs, investigators gathered more testimony -- including a neighbor who said he saw Barreto drinking that morning and a pharmacist who said she bought large amounts of the powerful painkiller Vicodin -- and Barreto was indicted on two counts of second-degree murder.

With help from lobbying by the Packs, legislation was created regarding DUI cases, and Danville has a new pedestrian pathway providing safer access to shops and the middle school.

Carmen Pack also collected books for a library in the Philippines established in Troy and Alana’s honor. Her husband coached the Little League team Troy would have played on.

Away from the television cameras, the Packs suffered. They couldn’t go anywhere without passing the crash site, where classmates left letters and stuffed animals.

At the grocery store, Carmen Pack broke down in the aisles. Other moms invited her to Girl Scout outings. She couldn’t bear it. She no longer belonged.

“All of a sudden you have this very quiet house and no activities to go to,” Bob Pack said. “We aren’t going to the school anymore, we aren’t going to soccer and baseball, so all of a sudden we are left out of the community.”

The couple also obtained a visitor’s visa on humanitarian grounds for Carmen’s Peruvian niece, who donated eggs to help them have more children. A recent ultrasound test showed Carmen Pack is carrying twins.