DNA analysis: Blood on airbag matches defendant in Turlock crash that killed 3

A DNA analyst testified Tuesday that blood found on a driver-side airbag matched a defendant accused of murder in a Turlock crash that killed three pedestrians last year.

Hours after the deadly crash, Luis Miguel Cruz repeatedly told Turlock police Detective Steve Rodrigues that he was not driving his white BMW when the car struck a boy, his mother and his grandmother walking on the sidewalk near Boxwood Way and Rockwood Avenue. The defendant claimed a man named “Juan” was driving his car.

Jennai Lawson, a criminalist from the state Department of Justice lab in Ripon, testified that the blood stain on the driver-side airbag matched Cruz’s DNA sample. She also said DNA traces found on the passenger-side airbag matched Eric Onate, Cruz’s friend.

Cruz, 29, of Turlock has been charged with three counts of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, along with one count of hit-and-run causing death.

Authorities believe Cruz was driving the car that struck 4-year-old Brian Flores; his mother, Julia Flores, 20; and his grandmother, Elena Flores, 47, on Sept. 6, 2014. Emily Flores, 2, was walking with her brother, mother and grandmother but wasn’t injured.

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 by police as Cruz, and a passenger got out and ran away, according to police.

Authorities say Cruz’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, and that after his car hit the family, he tried to leave the scene before being detained by passers-by.

Lawson said in court that the trace DNA found on the passenger-side airbag could have come from sweat or skin cells left behind. Onate’s DNA sample matched the major contributor of DNA traces found on the airbag.

The criminalist testified that two other contributors were found on the passenger-side airbag, but there was not enough material to determine who it came from or to rule out anyone.

Onate has said in court that he was the passenger that night in the white BMW and that it was driven by Cruz. But Onate said he couldn’t recall many details about the crash, because he was asleep. Police said Onate was captured at a nearby home after he ran from the crash site. He has not been charged in the incident.

During his first police interview, the defendant continued to deny he was driving, even after Onate told police that Cruz was driving. A few days later, Turlock police Detective Frank Navarro questioned Cruz. Portions of a video recording of that police interview were shown in court Tuesday.

In the video, Cruz admitted that he was driving the white BMW when it crashed, and that Onate was the front seat passenger. The defendant tolds Navarro that he lied to Rodrigues in the initial police interview.

“I was scared, bro,” Cruz said about why he lied in the first interview. “I didn’t know what to do.”

The defendant told the detective he wasn’t trying to kill the boy, his mother and his grandmother, and that it was a “total accident.” Cruz also said he didn’t see the pedestrians on the sidewalk, and that all he remembers is his car moving “pretty fast” before the BMW went off the road.

In the video, Cruz said he blacked out and doesn’t remember the car hitting the family or crashing into the house. “I just got out, and I got tackled by the people who were there,” the defendant told Navarro. The defendant said he wasn’t trying to run from the crash site, that he was just tackled when he got out of the car.

The detective asked the defendant how he felt about the three people dying from the crash. “S---, I’m going down for life,” Cruz said in the Sept. 8, 2014, police interview.

The preliminary hearing is expected to resume Oct. 15 with testimony from an officer who administered the alcohol breath test on Cruz. The officer was not available to testify this week.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Rick Distaso will determine whether there is enough evidence for the defendant to stand trial. Cruz remains in custody at the county jail.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "DNA analysis: Blood on airbag matches defendant in Turlock crash that killed 3."