RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. – One of the two men charged in a collision in a street race that fatally wounded two other seniors in Coachella scheduled to be tried on Wednesday for manslaughter.
Angel Ramirez, of Coachella, 38, is charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter for serious misconduct in the May 2019 accident that killed Sofia Prieto, 74, and José Prieto, 75.
Ramirez, who is out of custody for $50,000, is charged with Estevan Jesus Donato, 28, of Coachella, who remains on $250,000 bail.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Otis Sterling had concluded in the past that there was sufficient evidence to substantiate a trial for Donato on two counts of murder in the case following an initial hearing on August 4.
According to prosecutors, a Ford F-150 van with Prietos hit at around 7 p.m. May 17, 2019, as the driving force was trying to spin on Grapefruit Boulevard, near Mitchell Drive.
Testifying at Donato’s initial hearing, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Sergeant. David Morton said a witness reported seeing the two cars involved in the accident, an Audi sedan and a Dodge Challenger, at the intersection of Indian and Grapefruit boulevards, about two miles north of the crash site. The witness reported hearing the engines spin at the intersection before the two cars took off, reaching speeds exceeding one hundred miles consistent with the hour.
The Dodge Challenger, allegedly driven through Ramirez, collided with the Ford F-150, while the Audi sedan, allegedly driven through Donato, fled the scene and was then discovered after a witness reported the license plate of the car to a sheriff’s deputy, according to prosecutors.
José Prieto died at the site and Sofia Prieto died at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Indio.
– By city news service
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