Prosecutors drop criminal charges involving death of 2-year-old girl hit by truck in Woodland
“I just want to let him know that he destroyed our family,” the aunt of Ailahni Sanchez Martinez said.
“I just want to let him know that he destroyed our family,” the aunt of Ailahni Sanchez Martinez said.
“I just want to let him know that he destroyed our family,” the aunt of Ailahni Sanchez Martinez said.
Prosecutors dismissed a criminal case regarding the death of a 2-year-old girl after a grand jury deemed the crash that left her dead had no criminal cause, officials said Wednesday.
A toddler was behind the wheel of a truck that hit and killed the girl, identified as Ailahni Sanchez Martinez, on March 16, the Woodland Police Department said. The truck's owner had gone to a 76 gas station along West Street off of West Main Street and left his 3-year-old child in the vehicle to go inside the store.
The truck was still running when the child managed to get out of their car seat and into the front of the vehicle, police said. That was when the truck began moving until it hit Ailahni, who was near her parent's taco stand on the edge of the lot.
Ailahni's third birthday was just a month away at the time, her family said.
In a Wednesday release, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said the child was able to put the truck into drive without pressing the brake pedal "due to a defect in the vehicle."
The district attorney's office in May filed involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment charges against the 3-year-old's father, Julio Navarro Vidrio. Due to the sensitive nature of the case, the case went to a criminal grand jury last week.
When it was presented to the jury, Reisig said it returned a "no bill," meaning that the jurors did not find any probable cause that the crash was a criminal act.
Navarro Vidrio appeared via Zoom during a hearing at the Yolo County Courthouse on Wednesday but did not make any comments.
Ailahni's aunt, Diana Sanchez, had a message outside court for Navarro Vidrio.
“I just want to let him know that he destroyed our family,” she said. “Holidays are coming up and it’s not fair for them to just throw the case off like nothing had happened. They took a life and it was my niece’s life.”
Prosecutors told KCRA 3 that Navarro Vidrio has no criminal history and expressed remorse after the deadly crash.
"It's really heartbreaking, the entire situation is devastating," Deputy District Attorney Frits Van der Hoek said. "The case is over. We are respecting the decision of the grand jury in the case there will not be any additional charges. This is the end of the case."
Sanchez said she would have liked to have seen Navarro see jail time.
“I know it won’t take our pain away but it will reflect on other people that it’s not OK to leave a child unattended. I want to tell the community, be safe out there. Do not leave your child unattended with the vehicle on. It’s not a mistake.”
The family of the 2-year-old can still pursue a civil case over Ailahni's death.
They plan to organize a protest at the Yolo County courthouse later this month.
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