Aug 13, 2008 5:37 pm US/Pacific
Man Arraigned For Running Over 2 South Bay Women
SANTA CLARA (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
The man accused of striking and killing two elderly women with his car as they crossed a Santa Clara street was arraigned in court late Wednesday afternoon.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office charged Cecil Wayne Cox with one count of felony vehicular manslaughter, one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, and two counts of felony hit and run in connection with the deaths of Oralia Puga Ramirez and Enedina Oliva.
Cox shuffled into the courtroom Wednesday wearing red jail garb and thick prescription glasses. He was due to be back in court to enter a plea on Aug. 18.
Investigators said Cox was behind the wheel of the car that ran down the 73-year-old Ramirez and the 70-year-old Oliva as they crossed at the intersection of Stevens Creek Boulevard and Cypress Avenue on Saturday night.
One of the women landed on the hood of the car, according to police. They believe Cox drove for about 400 yards, then slowed, extended his arm from the window and pushed the woman from the vehicle. Police believe he then ran over her again and continued driving away from the victims.
District attorney spokeswoman Amy Cornell said the felony count of vehicular manslaughter against Cox was for the act of pushing Puga-Ramirez from the car's hood.
A witness was able to get the license plate number of the 1994 Infiniti sedan, leading to the arrest of the 66-year-old Cox at the Santa Clara Library Monday morning.
City Librarian Karen Saunders said one of her staff members saw Cox's sedan in the library's parking lot and compared his license plate number with the wanted one listed in the local newspaper. The librarians then called police.
"The arrest went very quietly, he was handcuffed and led from the library by police," Saunders said.
A spokeswoman for the Oliva family said Wednesday outside the courtroom that if Cox had stayed after hitting the women she would have been able to forgive him, but she will never forgive him for pushing Puga- Ramirez from the car and driving away.
But Puga-Ramirez's daughter said that her mother was a very religious woman, a Catholic, and that she would have forgiven Cox.
"I know my mother is in heaven, she will forgive him as we do," she said.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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