An arraignment statement indicates Gloria Sanchez, who was holding her 13-month-old daughter, fell out of the Toyota RAV4 her boyfriend was driving on West Edinger Avenue in Santa Ana on Halloween night. However, while Francisco Javier Montano is no longer suspected of having pushed his girlfriend to her death and his daughter into hospital care, he is facing charges that could send him to state prison for seven years and six months, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.
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4 Examples of OC Halloween Mayhem (2 Ladies Slain; Meth-Laced Treats; Flying Pumpkins)
Witnesses saw the events unfold around 8 p.m. Thursday, when 21-year-old Sanchez and the girl were found lying in the street in the 1600 block of West Edinger Avenue. The mother later died at a local hospital but her daughter's injuries were not considered life-threatening. She is now reported in stable condition.
Police mounted a search for the driver of a dark-colored pickup before 21-year-old Montano turned himself and his black Toyota Rav4 into police on Friday. The Irvine resident was held on $200,000 bail for alleged felony hit and run.
According to the OCDA, Montano failed to stop the Rav4 after the females fell out of the vehicle, allegedly continuing to drive on as they lay on the street.
He was scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Ana Tuesday afternoon on one felony count of hit and run with permanent injury or death, one felony count of child abuse and endangerment, and one misdemeanor count of driving without a valid license.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues, and anyone with additional information is asked to call Supervising District Attorney Investigator Randy Litwin at 714.347.8492 or the Santa Ana Police Homicide Unit at 714.245.8390.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.