Bail set at $4.5 million for defendant in deaths of three struck in Turlock
A judge on Wednesday afternoon raised the bail for a Turlock man accused of three counts of murder after an incident that left two women and a child dead.
Luis Miguel Cruz, 28, pleaded not guilty in Stanislaus Superior Court. He is charged in the deaths of Brian Flores, 4; his mother, Julia Flores, 20; and her mother-in-law, Elena Flores, 47, who were hit by a vehicle as they walked on a sidewalk in southwest Turlock on Saturday evening. Emily Flores, 2, was walking with her brother, mother and grandmother but wasn’t injured.
Turlock police arrested Cruz on manslaughter charges Monday; bail originally was set at $100,000.
Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Anthony Colacito sought to have Cruz’s bail increased after prosecutors formally charged him with three counts of murder.
Colacito said that at the time of the incident, Cruz’s blood-alcohol level was “over twice the legal limit.” The prosecutor said that after Cruz hit the family, rather than stop to try to help, “he attempted to flee, relatively unsuccessfully. He had to be detained by citizens.”
Judge Nan Cohan Jacobs agreed, and set bail for Cruz at $4.5 million.
Witnesses told police that the car was speeding in the area when it missed a turn and struck the two women and the boy. The car then slammed into a house, and the driver, later identified as Cruz, and a passenger got out and ran away.
Cruz also was charged with three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count of fatal hit-and-run, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday morning.
Cruz and a passenger in his white BMW were taken into custody Saturday night after the incident at Boxwood Way and Rockwood Avenue.
Turlock police have said three passers-by stopped and detained Cruz. The passenger, whose name has not been released, ran into a nearby house and was taken into custody after police obtained a search warrant. The passenger has not been criminally charged in connection with the incident.
In court Wednesday, Cruz glanced at the victims’ family members as a bailiff led him to the defense table.
Cruz, dressed in a washed-out red-and-white-striped jail jumpsuit, spoke briefly, answering “yes” when Jacobs asked him questions about his name and whether he waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days, and answering “no” when she asked if he could afford his own attorney. Chief Deputy Public Defender Sonny Sandhu asked Jacobs to put off a pretrial hearing until Sept. 23; the judge agreed.
Nine family members and friends of the victims attended Wednesday’s arraignment. After the hearing concluded, they went into an anteroom to confer with Colacito. When they finished, several family members stayed behind while they composed themselves. Then, arms around one another, they quietly walked out of the courthouse.
A visitation for the victims will be held at noon Tuesday at Allen Mortuary in Turlock, followed by a rosary at 8 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1200 Lyons Ave., Turlock. Contributions to help defray expenses for the family may be sent to the mortuary at 247 N. Broadway, Turlock 95380. For more information, call (209) 634-5829.
A Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Sept. 17 at the church. The bodies will be transported to Mexico for burial.
This story was originally published September 10, 2014 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Bail set at $4.5 million for defendant in deaths of three struck in Turlock."