The mother of two boys killed last year when a Sheriff’s Department vehicle overran a sidewalk on the edge of Boyle Heights with East Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County, accusing the driver of speeding and reckless behavior.
María Verónica Solís Muñoz also named the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and two sheriff’s deputies in her suit on Friday, alleging wrongful death, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress and seeking unspecified damages, according to MyNewsLA.
Muñoz was seriously injured in the crash last November that killed her sons Marco Antonio Hernández, 9, and José Luis Hernández, 7. The boys’ father sued Los Angeles County in January, City News Service reported, also citing negligence in the deaths of his sons.
The Sheriff’s Department could not be reached for comment.
A Los Angeles Police Department investigation found that the sheriff’s vehicle did not have its siren on as it ran a red light at the intersection of Whittier Boulevard and Indiana Street while responding to reports of shots fired in the area, the Los Angeles Times reported in January. The patrol car ran into another vehicle, then swerved onto a sidewalk and hit several pedestrians including a pregnant woman, injuring seven and killing Muñoz’s sons.
Muñoz’s lawsuit accused Carrie Esmeralda Robles-Placencia, the driver of the vehicle, of failing to consider traffic conditions and paying too little attention to her surroundings. In addition, the suit alleged that her training officer Vincent Moran, who was in the passenger seat, failed to train her properly and allowed her to take the wheel before her training was complete.
Prosecutors are also considering criminal charges against Robles-Placencia, who is still working for the Sheriff’s Department but is not driving a police vehicle.
