Woman pleads not guilty in fatal crash

Deepa Bharath

A 21-year-old Santa Ana woman facing a felony hit-and-run charge in

connection with a fatal accident involving a Newport Beach man

pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

Dulce Itzamara Herrera entered her plea during her arraignment at

the Harbor Justice Center Tuesday morning.

The accident occurred May 31, Memorial Day, when Herrera, driving

a black Nissan Altima, struck 24-year-old Paul Awad, who was crossing

the street near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Bonita

Canyon Road, Newport Beach police said.

Awad was thrown about 120 feet from the point of impact and

suffered severe head, leg and abdominal injuries, officials said. He

remained in critical condition for two weeks before he succumbed to

the head and abdominal injuries.

Herrera, who was returning home after her shift as a housekeeper

at the Four Seasons Hotel, wasn’t able to stop in time to avoid

hitting Awad, Sgt. Steve Shulman said.

Police initially said Awad was walking on a marked crosswalk, but

Shulman said on Tuesday that investigators believe Awad did not cross

the street at the crosswalk.

“We believed that he was the one at fault,” Shulman said.

Alcohol was also detected in Awad’s system, he said.

Herrera’s fault was that she fled the scene, Shulman said.

“You don’t see this happen too often,” he said. “As to why she

fled the scene, that’s anyone’s guess.”

If convicted, she could face up to four years in state prison.

Family members held a press conference days after the accident ,

seeking the public’s help to find the driver. Herrera fled the scene

but turned herself in on June 7 after Newport Beach police

investigators tracked down her car and her family in Santa Ana.

Awad’s family members could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

But Awad’s mother, Jeannie Awad-Morgan, had said that her family had

decided not to press charges against Herrera and “leave it to the

justice system.”

“There’s no joy in taking two lives,” she said in June, after her

son’s death. “Paul was young and just starting out his life. So was

she.”

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 17 at Harbor Justice

Center.

Herrera is being held at Orange County Jail.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.