Robertina Franco will be charged with one count of misdemeanor
vehicular manslaughter; charge carries maximum of a year in county
jail
By Rachelle Gines Staff Writer
Gilroy – A $7,500 arrest warrant has been issued for the woman who struck and killed 5-year-old Brayan Trejo with her truck in June. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office will charge Robertina Delgado Franco with one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.
Court records show that the warrant was filed against the 49-year-old Gilroy resident Tuesday. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in county jail, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s office said. Calls to Franco were not returned.
Brayan Trejo’s father, Jesus Mendoza-Trejo Sr. said Franco should remain in custody.
“There should be no bail,” Mendoza-Trejo Sr. said in Spanish through his 19-year-old daughter Marisela Trejo. “The police should put themselves in my place. Would they give her bail if it was their child who died?”
Mendoza-Trejo Sr. said he would feel differently if his son had survived.
“It’s not just an accident, because Brayan died. Maybe if he didn’t die, she should have gotten bail,” Trejo-Mendoza said. “It wasn’t Brayan’s fault. It was her fault.”
Franco was traveling southbound on Church Street when she made a left turn eastbound on 10th Street, striking and killing the little boy while he rode his scooter alongside his 13-year-old brother Jesus Trejo in the crosswalk on the afternoon of June 27, police said. Jesus Trejo was not hurt.
Authorities confirmed that both boys waited for a green light to cross, and Franco was compliant and released at the scene. Police have said drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the accident.
As a result of the accident, city officials are planing to study the signal at the intersection where Brayan Trejo was killed, to see if a dedicated left turn signal would make the intersection safer.
The local community also has rallied around the Trejo family, hosting a barbecue and car show to raise funds for the child’s funeral expense, and donating to a trust fund in the child’s memory.
Rachelle Gines is an intern attending San Francisco State University. Reach her at 847-7158 or rg****@************ch.com.
