Plea offer possible for driver in deadly crash
Collision took the life of a mother and her 5-year-old son
A plea offer is in the works for the driver charged in connection to a two-car collision over a year ago. The crash resulted in a mother and her 5-year-old son losing their lives. Because of the possible plea offer, the driver’s attorney requested a 30-day continuance during a hearing on Wednesday.
Nathan Morales, who is out of custody, had been scheduled to appear at the hearing, which was a final management conference, so his attorney could provide the court with an update on the case’s status.
In asking for the 30-day continuance, attorney Wm. Michael Smith of Bowman & Smith P.C. said that he was still waiting to receive some information from the state, adding that it was not a discovery.
When asked by Superior Court Judge David Haws what the information was, a prosecutor from the Maricopa County Attorneys Office, who was appearing at the hearing by telephone, answered that the state is in the process of putting a plea offer together.
She added that the plea is currently being reviewed by the victims of the case and that she hoped to have it to the defense sometime within the next 30 days.
After hearing from both counsel, Haws granted Smith’s request for a continuance. rescheduling the matter for 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 20. He also ruled that the prosecutors from Maricopa County could continue appearing by telephone until a change of plea is held, saying they must be present at that time.
Morales has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, six counts of aggravated assault, extreme DUI, endangerment and reckless driving in the deaths of Doraly Correa of Somerton and her 5-year-old son.
He was arraigned on the charges on April 24 after receiving a grand jury summons to appear.
According to the Yuma County Sheriffs Office, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, at about 6:50 p.m., deputies responded to a report of a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of West County 18th Street and South Somerton Avenue.
The initial investigation into the crash revealed that a silver, 2014 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck was traveling westbound on County 18th Street and failed to stop at the intersection. It then collided with a gold, 2007 Toyota Sequoia that had been traveling northbound on Somerton Avenue.
The force of the impact pushed the Seqoia about 100 feet past the intersection and off to the west side of the road. When the two vehicles came to a stop, nearby field workers and an off-duty corrections officer immediately ran to where the occupants were and began removing them.
While she was being helped out, the driver of the Seqoia said her young boy was still in the rear vehicle. The officer and one of the field workers rushed back to the SUV, filled with smoke by now, and pulled him out through a rear cargo door.
The Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department reported that both vehicles were fully engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived on scene, adding that there were six people lying on the side of the road with someone performing CPR on a young boy. YCSO’s Critical Accident Response Team and the Criminal Investigation Bureau responded to the scene and assumed the investigation.
The driver of the Sequoia, identified as Correa, was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center by the San Luis Fire Department, where she died of her injuries. Her 5-year-old son was rushed to YRMC by Somerton/Cocopah Fire Department ambulance and later flown to a Phoenix-area hospital where he later died.
The two young girls who were passengers in the Sequoia were also later flown to Phoenix for emergency pediatric medical treatment and were reported at the time as being in stable, but serious, condition.
Morales, who was driving the pickup and is from Yuma, was also taken to YRMC with his passenger, 31-year-old Tyrone Henry Holley. Both sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Because of the number of seriously injured patients, the City of Yuma and Rural/Metro fire departments each provided two ambulances. Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents and YCSO deputies also assisted with care of the patients.
In addition to an ambulance, the San Luis Fire Department also provided a ladder truck. The intersection of West County 18th and South Somerton Avenue was closed for 17 hours while the crash was being investigated. According to the sheriff’s office, several fatalities have occurred at the intersection in recent years.