One charge dropped for man suspected of killing grandmother of 10 in fatal car crash
After two days of testimony, a Kern County Superior Court judge decided Thursday that the man suspected of killing a grandmother of 10 in a fatal car crash was not under the influence of drugs causing bodily injury.
Following his preliminary hearing, Karim Reyad, 19, is now being held to answer for second-degree murder, three counts of reckless driving on a highway, one count of driving the wrong way on a highway causing bodily injuries and one count of reckless driving in an off-street parking lot.
Reyad is suspected of killing Gayla Sue Price, 66, after driving more than 100 mph on Campus Park Drive on April 18, 2023, The Californian previously reported.
Despite Judge Charles Brehmer’s decision to dismiss one count of driving under the influence of drugs causing bodily injury, Reyad is still being held to answer for one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count of driving under the influence of a drug.
Brehmer said this was not an easy decision and he clarified that he is not making any factual findings on the case until after the trial.
Thursday’s preliminary hearing focused on Reyad’s suspected marijuana use and if it related to the crash. Deputy District Attorney Kacie Barrier called Matthew Iturriria to testify as an expert in impaired driving. Iturriria is an investigator for the Kern County District Attorney’s Office and was previously a California Highway Patrol officer who specializes in DUI cases.
At Wednesday’s hearing, defense attorneys H.A. Sala and Forrest Miller objected to having Iturriria testify because they said it was sprung on them. However, Brehmer allowed Iturriria to testify Wednesday with the contingency that the defense could argue to strike his testimony later on.
Iturriria said Thursday that he did not render an opinion on the case until after he heard testimonies from several Bakersfield Police Department officers Wednesday and reviewed the evidence and lab results from the blood test in the case. During the hearing Wednesday and Thursday, Iturriria was asked to step out of the courtroom if testimony was unrelated to DUI charges.
Iturriria gave his expert opinion that he believed that Reyad was under the influence of marijuana and it impaired Reyad’s judgment and ability to drive. The investigator said he believed that this was the primary factor in the crash.
Sala strongly objected to Iturriria’s testimony, calling Iturriria’s conclusion a “bootstrap opinion” and preposterous. Miller also questioned Iturriria’s opinion, saying that Reyad’s poor judgment was just that.
Miller also questioned Iturriria about how marijuana metabolizes. Iturriria said the drug affects every person differently and therefore, unlike alcohol, there is no legal standard for how much marijuana is considered too much to impair a person’s driving ability.
Iturriria was not the only person at Thursday’s hearing who thought Reyad was under the influence of marijuana during the crash. Bailey Eby was the lead detective from the BPD on Reyad’s case. He said he believed Reyad was driving under the influence of a drug, coupled with driving at an unsafe speed, driving in the wrong lanes and making an unsafe turn.
Before Eby gave his testimony Thursday, Brehmer allowed him to speak on the interview Eby conducted with Reyad at Loma Linda University Medical Center in San Bernardino County.
Sala and Miller objected to details about the interview because the detective was told Reyad had lawyers who advised him not to speak to law enforcement. However, Barrier argued that Reyad was not under arrest or in custody at the time and gave his responses to the detective freely. Eby called his interview with Reyad “a friendly conversation,” causing Sala to chuckle.
Eby said the first thing Reyad told him was he didn’t do anything wrong. During the interview, Reyad told Eby that he does smoke marijuana and was trying to get a medical card for his marijuana usage. However, Miller clarified that does not mean Reyad smoked marijuana on the day of the crash.
Officers found vaping pens in the car and an unused marijuana cigar in the car, but Sala said that does not mean that Reyad used the vape pens. Similarly, officers found Price’s prescription medication bottles in her car, but Barrier argued there is no way of knowing if the prescriptions impaired Price’s driving.
Eby said Reyad told him that Price cut him off and turned out of nowhere. At Wednesday’s hearing, Barrier showed pictures from the crash site where Price was allegedly trying to turn into a neighborhood when the crash occurred.
In addition, Barrier focused on Reyad’s driving history at Wednesday’s hearing, citing a prior pocket bike crash and incident where he was pulled over for doing burnouts and driving at a high speed on the day he bought the car.
At Thrusday’s hearing, Eby said Reyad told him how he did burnouts before. Eby also found social media videos exchanged with one of the passengers in the crash of Reyad doing burnouts.
When Eby spoke about Reyad doing burnouts at the Dodge dealership where he bought his Charger, Reyad nodded along before Miller told him to stop.
Barrier showed the snapchat video taken by a passenger on the day of the April 2023 crash. In the interview in the hospital, Reyad told Eby he had seen the video and never wants to see it again.
The 17-second snapchat video focused on the speedometer and the passenger made fun of the driver to speed up. The driver accelerated and the car could be heard revving. The video cuts out after one of the passengers curses, presumably when the crash occurred. Throughout the video, the faces of the driver and passengers are not shown.
At Thursday’s hearing, Sala said he is not denying that Reyad was driving dangerously but Sala said Reyad was an 18-year-old boy getting used to his new car that he was proud of and wanted to show off.
A man and a woman sat in the audience on the defendant’s side while a large group made up of Price’s loved ones and at least one member of Mothers Against Drunk Driving sat on the other side of the courtroom.
Reyad’s next court hearing is his arraignment on April 23, when the court can decide a trial date.