Julian Navarro Murillo, who stands accused of killing a popular
Eagle Ridge gatehouse supervisor in an early-morning
alcohol-related traffic accident, will wait again to enter a
plea.
Julian Navarro Murillo, who stands accused of killing a popular Eagle Ridge gatehouse supervisor in an early-morning alcohol-related traffic accident, will wait again to enter a plea.
According to police reports, Julian Navarro Murillo, 25, drove home early the morning of Sept. 16 after a sleepless night with a blood-alcohol level well above the legal limit. Traveling north on Santa Teresa Boulevard, he attempted to make an unsafe left turn onto Day Road directly into the path of Lourdes Sanchez’s oncoming car, police said.
Sanchez was traveling southbound on Santa Teresa on her way to her job as a guard at Eagle Ridge, police said. The two vehicles collided head on. Sanchez was pronounced dead at the scene and Murillo was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence – both felonies.
Murillo’s blood-alcohol measured 0.22 percent following the crash, a toxicology report revealed.
Deputy District Attorney Patty Henley amended the original charges of driving under the influence with a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury and vehicular manslaughter to include a third charge, which alleged that Murillo was not only driving under the influence, but also driving while over the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent.
His bail was set at $75,000. He is currently in custody.
Henley, the judge and the defendant’s attorney will discuss the case and options for avoiding a trial Dec. 11 before the next plea hearing, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Dec. 11 in Department 91 at the South County Courthouse.
“He’s scheduled to enter a plea but he may or may not, depending on how the discussion goes with his attorney and the judge and what the defendant decides to do,” Henley said, adding that the case could again be continued to a later date.
