Gilroy
– The driver who killed 5-year-old Brayan Trejo last June will
not be jailed, instead paying for her crime through community
service, probation and a $110 fine.
Gilroy – The driver who killed 5-year-old Brayan Trejo last June will not be jailed, instead paying for her crime through community service, probation and a $110 fine.
The Trejos were incensed by the sentence, which they called “nothing.” Monday, more than a dozen friends and Trejo family members turned out at the South County Courthouse to recount their anguish to Superior Court Judge Daniel Creed, who delivered the sentence to 49-year-old Robertina Franco.
Franco hit the boy June 27, 2006, as he rode his scooter across a 10th Street crosswalk alongside his older brother Jesus. The Gilroy woman was driving southbound on Church Street, then turned left, killing the child. A witness, Maria Aguilar, flagged down Franco on 10th Street after the crash and said she was holding a long receipt in one hand, a cell phone in the other.
In January, Franco pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
Though Verizon records show that Franco wasn’t making or receiving calls at the time of the crash, deputy district attorney Amir Alem said Franco was probably planning a call or using the calculator function on her cell phone, distracting her from the road. Milton Gonzalez, Franco’s attorney, argued that she grabbed the receipt and phone in panic after the accident – an explanation that Alem said “doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
“It’s a sunny day, middle of June, no rain, no fog, no haze,” said Alem. “For whatever reason, she wasn’t paying any attention to these two kids, walking in a marked crosswalk. It’s inexcusable.”
Alem backed the probation department’s recommendation of “minimum to moderate jail” time, and asked that the court suspend her license, saying simply, “She’s not a good driver.”
For their part, the Trejo family asked that Franco serve jail time, emphasizing the family’s suffering since the 5-year-old’s death. Many wore T-shirts with Brayan’s image, and brought posters covered with photos of the small boy, riding a pony, wearing a white baptismal suit, grinning alongside his older brother. Creed didn’t allow the family to display the posters, in keeping with court rulings that have restricted displays aimed at swaying judges in victims’ favor. But their words were no less powerful.
Blanca Trejo, Brayan’s mother, said her daughters had to force her to get dressed in the morning, that the only reason she didn’t commit suicide was for the sake of her older son, Jesus, who is listless and depressed, and no longer plays. Brayan’s aunt, Angelica Ortiz, described her terror as she passes the intersection where Brayan died, imagining him covered in blood. When her tiny daughter asks about Brayan, she said, Ortiz tells her to stop asking questions, that she feels sick. Ads for the newest Spiderman movie rattle the Trejos, who remember Brayan’s love for the masked superhero.
“When she hit him, it’s like she killed all of us,” said Jesus Trejo Sr., the boy’s father. “We are destroyed inside. Sometimes we go crazy, thinking of him. We cry. We can’t sleep. We can’t eat. Don’t let this go and say it was a common accident – because it wasn’t.”
Nine friends and family spoke before the judge. Some argued that Franco must have meant to kill Brayan, because she didn’t stop immediately; others railed against her for not apologizing to the family. Franco rose briefly to speak to the family, her eyes obscured behind dark brown glasses. Since her arrest, friends and coworkers have risen to defend the Gilroy woman. Last August, her employer Joel Goldsmith, owner of Goldsmith’s Seeds, wrote a public letter lauding her loving nature, a letter that was signed by 91 of her coworkers.
“I have always wanted to ask your forgiveness,” Franco told the Trejos. Jesus Trejo Sr. didn’t turn to face her, his arms crossed and his expression stony. “I am a mother, and also a human being – I have been deeply affected. There are no words I can find to ask for forgiveness, for the huge pain I have caused all of you.”
Also, she added, she did send flowers to the 10th Street memorial that sprung up after the child’s death.
“I don’t know where you put those flowers,” Jesus Trejo Sr. replied sharply, before Creed asked the audience to calm down.
Cautioning the family that no verdict could bring back Brayan, Creed sentenced Franco to three years probation, 200 hours of community service, and multiple fines, including $110 restitution to the Trejo family. Franco will also undergo psychological treatment as a condition of her sentence. Her license was not restricted. Attorney Gonzalez declined to comment specifically on Franco’s sentence, but issued a statement citing his client’s deep sorrow and her hope for forgiveness.
Outside the courtroom, the Trejos lamented the sentence, which they considered far too lenient.
“That’s nothing. Nothing. Where is justice?” asked Jesus Trejo Sr. “There is no fear in those that drive. They can keep in mind that if you take a person’s life, it’s only 200 hours community service.”
“At least one month in jail,” added Blanca Trejo. “That would have made her meditate on what she had done.”
As the criminal case closes, the family is mulling other action, both in the courts and on the streets. In January, the Trejos filed a claim against the city of Gilroy for unspecified monetary damages, a claim that was rejected by the city days later. Attorney Paul Caputo said the Trejos are still deciding whether to file a civil lawsuit alleging that the intersection was poorly controlled, contributing to the child’s death. The deadline to do so is July 22.
Meanwhile, the family is frustrated that a designated left-turn signal has yet to be installed at the crossing. Traffic engineer Don Dey couldn’t be reached Monday to discuss the status of the $300,000 project, which was prompted by last summer’s accident; as of January, the signal was still being designed. On the anniversary of Brayan’s death, the Trejos plan to march to the intersection, to demand a speedier fix to traffic problems.
But as the family mulled over the sentence at the home of Marisela Trejo, Brayan’s sister, their main hope was that Gilroy’s drivers let up on the gas pedal, put down their phones, and keep their eyes on the crosswalks.
“I pray to God for all of us, to put aside those cell phones,” said Ortiz, as she concluded her remarks before the judge. “They always end up causing death.”
