Former council candidate charged in crash that killed a 66-year-old man

Former San Jose City Council candidate Jennifer Higgins Bradanini faces up to six years in prison after being charged with fatally striking a 66-year-old pedestrian with her SUV late last year.

At the time of the crash, Higgins Bradanini was under the influence of benzodiazepine — a class of medicine that includes Xanax and Klonopin and is typically prescribed for anxiety, depression and insomnia, according to documents filed earlier this month in the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Benzodiazepine can cause weakness and dizziness and has been proven to impair driving, so those taking the medicine are advised not to drive.

Higgins Bradanini, president and co-founder of Women’s March Bay Area, was charged with felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence July 14 in the death of Timothy Starkey, 66, of Santa Cruz. A warrant was issued for her arrest, but it is unclear at this time when court hearings will begin.

Starkey’s daughter, Bridget Starkey, said in an interview Wednesday that his family is hoping for “whatever will be justice for the loss of his life in ours.”

“There has been an extremely huge void in all of our lives since he left us, and we just want to honor him,” Bridget said.

Higgins Bradanini could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

The court documents — including a police report, witness statements and a blood toxicology report that first were reported by San Jose Inside — paint a detailed picture, for the first time in eight months, of what exactly occurred during the Dec. 16, 2019, crash that led to Starkey’s death.

When officers arrived at the scene of the crash in the 900 block of Blossom Hill Road in Los Gatos, they found Higgins Bradanini “lying on the sidewalk in the fetal position crying hysterically,” according to a report from the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department.

Higgins Bradanini, who was running for a seat on the City Council at the time, reportedly had just left a meeting at San Jose City Hall on the upcoming Women’s March and was driving to her doctor in Los Gatos at about 11:40 a.m. when she struck Starkey, who was standing behind a vehicle parked on the side of the roadway.

The crash occurred on the north shoulder of Blossom Hill Road, which includes a 5-foot bike lane between the lane Higgins Bradanini was driving in and the shoulder.

Higgins Bradanini was “swerving and unable to maintain her lane,” according to a witness statement.

In the police report, officers wrote that she “did not display any objective symptoms of alcohol intoxication,” but that she was unable to “remember why she veered out of her lane approximately 6 to 8 feet” and had trouble “focusing and articulating her thoughts or answering simple questions with slowed thinking, and apparent memory loss.”

“I don’t know what I did,” Higgins Bradanini reportedly told officers at the scene. “I know I killed him. It’s my fault.”

Higgins Bradanini denied being on her phone at the time of the crash but questioned whether she might have been taking off her jacket. “What if I took off my jacket? I had a jacket on at one point,” she reportedly told officers. “I am trying to remember all the things I could have done.”

She informed officers at the scene that she had taken a prescription drug prior to the crash and voluntarily gave them a blood sample, which came back positive for benzodiazepine. The exact name of the substance was redacted from the police report.

Police did not arrest Higgins Bradanini at the scene but took her to the police station for more questioning.

In response to a statement that she made at the scene saying, “I don’t even want to live,” officers at the station asked her bluntly whether she was suicidal.

Higgins Bradanini said that she was not but also added, “I took someone’s life by accident, and I don’t know how you ever get past that.”

“I just don’t want to be here. I just don’t know how I can live anymore,” she reportedly added.

Higgins Bradanini was running for the District 10 seat on the San Jose City Council to replace Councilman Johnny Khamis when the crash took place.

She took a brief hiatus from the campaign trail before resuming and placing third during the March primary.

Starkey died immediately on impact after being struck by Higgins Bradanini’s SUV. He was at a friend’s house to help hang up Christmas lights when he went to grab supplies from his vehicle and was struck, according to his family and friends.

Starkey spent most of his career as a vice president of operations at various technology companies across California and then as a handyman in Santa Cruz in recent years. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, and two children, Bridget and Joseph.

Bridget described her father as a “determined and passionate man rooted in great values” and “the life of the party without ever trying to be.”