A jury delivered a guilty verdict Wednesday for a Tierrasanta woman involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed one girl and seriously injured another.
In the verdict read in a San Diego courtroom, Julianne Little, 30, was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter in the Feb. 20, 2016 crash that killed 10-year-old Raquel Rosete and the seriously injured of Rosete's friend, 12-year-old Mekayla Lee. The jury also found Little guilty of hit-and-run, as she initially fled the scene of the deadly crash.
Little stared straight ahead in the courtroom as the verdict was read. At times, she took deep breaths and gulped, occasionally looking down.
The jury found that Little was not texting while driving at the time of the crash, and also found she was not asleep behind the wheel, as Little's defense attorney argued throughout the trial. Her attorney said Little fell asleep, woke up upon hitting the girls and drove away without knowing what she hit.
The jury did find that Little was distracted while driving.
On Tuesday, closing arguments were delivered in Little's trial and a new piece of evidence was shown in court: a 911 recording by a woman who witnessed the crash on Feb. 20 and saw at least one of the girls injured. The woman spoke with a police officer on the phone while another man was able to get the license plate of Little's car.
According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), Little swerved off the road and hit the girls as they were walking along the sidewalk off Santo Road near Shields Street. Little initially fled the scene, but returned shortly after the crash.
Although the prosecutor suggested she may have been texting on her phone when she struck the girls, Little's defense attorney contested the claim during the trial, saying there was no supporting evidence. The jury agreed.
In closing arguments, her defense attorney also said Little was not grossly negligent as there was no evidence of texting or impairment, but did agree that she was guilty of hit-and-run.
Little pleaded not guilty back in February to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter for the death of Rosete and causing serious injury to Lee.
At her sentencing, she faces up to 11 years and eight months in prison.
NBC 7 spoke with Rosete's family in court Wednesday after Little's verdict was announced. The girl's aunt, Taura Gentry, said the family is devastated by the horrific loss of Rosete, who was a vibrant, beloved part of their family.
Jury finds Little was NOT texting and driving, did not fall asleep, but was distracted while driving that night in Tierrasanta, Feb 20 #NBC7
— Astrid Solorzano (@solorzanoastrid) November 23, 2016
"Just that vivacious and wonderful personality, we'll never get it back," said Gentry, fighting back tears. "But that's what people should know, that she always lit up a room, and she was always dynamic."
Lee was also at the courthouse, and the young girl told NBC 7 she's trying to move forward with her life, but it is difficult.
"I've been trying to get through it...it's just, like -- it's really hard," the girl said.
