Driver Gets 9 Years in Crash Deaths of Murrieta Man, 2 Others

A Hemet woman was sentenced today after video surveillance from a convenience store helped convict her of gross vehicular manslaughter in a 2009 multi-vehicle crash that killed three people, including a 37-year-old Murrieta man.

Victoria Samantha Cook, 26, was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months in prison today after being convicted June 28 of three counts of gross vehicular manslaughter in connection with the wreck on state Route 74 in Homeland on June 2, 2009.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Cook's reckless driving of caused the chain-reaction crash that killed Christine Emily Giambra, 72, of Fountain Valley; Cedric Twayne Page, 37, of Murrieta; and Zaria Williams, 11, of San Jacinto.

She was also pinned with three sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury for three others who were injured in the crash, and three allegations of committing a serious felony.

Cook was speeding east along state Route 74, near Four Seasons Boulevard, when she made several unsafe lane changes, clipping one vehicle and causing other motorists to swerve, according to the CHP.

Page was driving an Audi with his young cousin, Zaria, in the front passenger seat. He swerved into opposing traffic, colliding head-on with a Mitsubishi driven by Giambra, investigators said. Another driver, trying to avoid the accident, also hit Page's vehicle.

In addition to the three casualties, three others suffered serious injuries in the pileup, according to the CHP.

Cook remained at the scene but denied having anything to do with causing the wrecks. The CHP sought charges against her after a nearly yearlong investigation. A key piece of evidence was footage from a video surveillance camera mounted outside a convenience store along the highway that showed Cook driving out of control.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dennis McConaghy imposed the midrange sentence--four years--for one manslaughter count, but handed down 16-month sentences for the other two. He applied the maximum term for one enhancement and ordered that the other five enhancements run concurrent, sparing Cook what could have been a 30-year sentence.

The defense had argued for the enhancements to be dismissed, which McConaghy rejected.

City News Service contributed to this report.