A motorist who killed a 41-year-old woman on the 71 Freeway in Corona and then fled to Mexico pleaded guilty on Monday, March 24, to gross vehicular manslaughter, driving without a license and other offenses and was immediately sentenced to 13 years in state prison.
Superior Court Judge Joshlyn Pulliam directed the Department of Probation to determine the appropriate monetary restitution to be paid by the defendant to the victim’s family.
Robert Chico Griffin, 49, of Chino killed Danelle Aguirre of Moreno Valley on Aug. 15, 2022.
At 2:25 that morning, Griffin was going north on the 71, just north of the 91 Freeway, in a Lexus SC430 when he approached a Dodge Ram pickup just ahead of him, the California Highway Patrol has said, and plowed into it.
The pickup veered off of the freeway its passenger was killed. The pickup’s driver suffered minor injuries, authorities said.
Griffin fled and was caught several weeks later.
Court documents showed that at the time of his arrest he had an unresolved case for being an unlicensed driver of a vehicle in 2021.
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