Costa Mesa man convicted of murder in Irvine crash that killed woman and 2-year-old
A 25-year-old Costa Mesa man whose first trial last year ended in a stunning deadlock was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder for triggering an Irvine crash that killed a woman and her 2-year-old granddaughter.
Jurors took about 90 minutes to reach verdicts on two counts in the retrial of Alec Scott Abraham in the June 10, 2015, crash that fatally injured Katherine Hampton, 54, of Lake Forest and her granddaughter Kaydence. Hampton’s daughter suffered a broken jaw in the crash and another grandchild, who was 7 at the time, suffered a broken collarbone.
Before the verdicts were read, Abraham asked a reporter to interview him, claiming he was innocent. Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham repeatedly admonished Abraham not to interrupt the proceedings.
After he was convicted, Abraham told the judge he had created a website that would reveal a “hidden agenda” and “cover-ups” in the case.
“How I got set up for a crime I didn’t do is beyond me,” Abraham said.
When Pham ordered him taken into custody immediately, Abraham tearfully begged to see “my little brother one more time.”
Sentencing is set for Feb. 28 at Superior Court in Santa Ana. Abraham could face 30 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Abraham was speeding when he T-boned the car Hampton was driving.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Bokosky said during the trial that “the defendant had been warned about his driving,” telling jurors that a state parks police officer pulled Abraham over on Jan. 3, 2015, for speeding on Pacific Coast Highway.
Abraham’s co-workers at a Toyota dealership in Huntington Beach also warned him about “driving recklessly and fast,” Bokosky said.
She told jurors that Abraham would record videos of his speeding and send them to service technicians and fellow sales representatives.
In November 2015, Abraham took a selfie video in a Ford Mustang and sent it via text to a group of co-workers, the prosecutor said. The video, which jurors viewed last week, “shows the defendant maxing out the Mustang” as he reached 140 mph, Bokosky said.
“These employees told him to stop driving like an idiot,” with one saying the video had been forwarded to the California Highway Patrol, Bokosky said.
Abraham was driving a Mustang downhill on Alton Parkway when he swerved into a left-turn lane around idling traffic at a red light and slammed into Hampton’s Chevrolet Cruze at Barranca Parkway, Bokosky said.
Authorities alleged Abraham was racing another car before the collision.
Carol Holdsworth and Sharon Jones were lost in Irvine the night of June 10, 2015, after returning by train from a trip to San Diego.
Abraham got out of the Mustang after the crash and checked on the people in the Cruze before leaving the scene, Bokosky said. A witness said she saw Abraham put his hands on his head and walk away, the prosecutor said.
Another motorist at the scene told investigators that Abraham asked to borrow his phone and then fled, Bokosky said.
An event data recorder in the Mustang showed it was traveling at least 75 mph when it smashed into the other car, she said.
“The EDR showed [Abraham] was accelerating at 100%. That means he had his foot to the floor at the moment of impact,” Bokosky said.
Abraham called his father to pick him up, but he was arrested a day later in Costa Mesa, Bokosky said.
Abraham’s attorney, Eric Mayeda Renslo, argued there was no evidence that traffic on Barranca Parkway had a green light. He said the intersection is confusing and that there was construction in the area, so Abraham tried to correct himself and get back in the right lane after going around traffic in the left-turn pocket.
Abraham was helping his parents move and was unfamiliar with the area, Renslo said.
“He was confused and all of a sudden he sees these headlights,” Renslo said. “That’s basically what this is — it’s a traffic accident.”
Abraham was trying to get help for the victims at the scene and grew afraid and left, but he had intended to turn himself in, according to his attorney.
Renslo said Abraham’s co-workers are “disgruntled employees” and that his client had no criminal record.
“He doesn’t even have any minor accidents or collisions,” Renslo said. “This went from having no record at all to murder for a traffic accident.”
Abraham’s first trial ended April 3 with a Superior Court judge declaring a mistrial after a juror changed her vote during confirmation polling of the jury moments after the panel had delivered a guilty verdict on each of the two counts. Without a unanimous decision, the initial guilty verdict couldn’t stand.
Daily Pilot staff contributed to this report.
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