Crash suspect appears in court
Local woman awaits prelimary hearing on a DUI-murder charge
A Canyon Country woman charged with murder for allegedly killing a Saugus mother of six in a DUI crash appeared briefly in court Thursday to set a date for a preliminary hearing.
Alexia Alilah Cina, 21, appeared Thursday in San Fernando Superior Court, and was ordered to appear back in court Jan. 17 to set a date for a preliminary hearing, Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, told The Signal Thursday.
During a preliminary hearing, prosecutors present evidence in the case, and the defense can respond, after which the judge decides if the case should go to trial.
Last month, she was charged with one felony count each of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing
injury and driving with more than .08 percent blood alcohol content causing injury.
If convicted as charged, Cina faces a possible maximum sentence of 18 years to life in state prison, Santiago said.
Cina was arrested after traffic investigators with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station obtained the results of toxicology tests which allegedly reveal she had a blood alcohol content of .21 at the time of the crash.
The legal blood/alcohol limit is 0.08.
Cina was driving southbound on Golden Valley Road at a high rate of speed on Oct. 6, when she hit the center median and crashed into Evans’ vehicle on the northbound side of the road, prosecutors said.
The Evans children, meanwhile, are coping with the loss of their mother.
“I’m getting lots of help from friends and church friends,” widower Jacob Evans told The Signal Thursday. “It’s wonderful to have such a great community.”
Jacob and Katie – now just Jacob – had six children, each with their own character and their own needs. They are Spencer,12; Travis, 11; Nathaniel, 9; Gideon, 2; and twin newborn girls, Hannah and Sarah, each just 4 months old.
On Thursday, Jacob had planned on leaving the hospital with one of the twins -- Sarah -- but ended up putting it off for at least another day, he said Thursday.
Sarah, he reported, weighs 5 pounds 13 ounces now -- “triple the weight she was born with,” he said.