Woman Accused of Killing Mother-of-Four in Fatal Hit-and-Run Appears in Court

At one point during the arraignment, suspect Christina Daniel stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes toward the judge.

A woman accused of killing a City Heights mother-of-four in a hit-and-run appeared in court for the first time Monday, pleading not guilty. 

Jazmine Leigh Ruiz, 29, died April 20 after she was beaten and struck by a vehicle in the west alley of the 4100 block of Wilson Avenue. Detectives believe the car was used as a weapon to kill the victim after a physical assault.

Monday, Christina Daniel stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes at the judge as she was arraigned for her alleged role in Ruiz's death. The judge ordered the news media not to show Daniel's face. 

Prosecutors said Daniel stabbed Ruiz in the neck and jugular, probably inside the same car used to run her over by a second suspect. Daniel and another man were arrested last week and a third suspect is still on the run. 

Daniel pleaded not guilty. 

In arguing for no bail, Deputy District Attorney David Bost detailed Daniel's violent past. She was wanted for attempted murder for an allegedly stabbing someone in the head in January. She was on parole after serving six years in prison for carjacking in 2007 and before that, she was convicted of auto theft in 2004. 

When the judge asked Daniel if she would waive bail review, she said, "I guess, if I have to." 

Based on her extensive history, the judge ordered her held without bail. 

Following the arraignment, Ruiz's mother, Lydia Morales, broke down. 

"I'm outraged, broken," she said. "What she did, what they did in this act is such - it's just evil. Pure evil." 

When asked about a possible motive, she said she couldn't imagine why Daniel would want to kill her daughter. 

"Who could even imagine," she said. "My question to you, why do you think they targeted her? Because, guess what, normal people like us don't think like that. We don't have that in our hearts and in our minds. It's unbelievable."

Before the arraignment, the family of the victim and the suspect had to be separated by deputies after a heated shouting match. 

"I'll be honest. I think it's all an act," Morales said. "It's gonna hit her one day what she did, it's going to hit her. She has to live with that every day in a little tiny cell." 

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