Crime & Safety

Woman Found Guilty in 2009 Crash That Killed Murrieta Man, Two Others

Victoria Samantha Cook faces more than 17 years in prison for three counts of vehicular manslaughter and sentence-enhancing counts of great bodily injury.

A Murrieta jury has found a Hemet woman guilty in a 2009 crash that killed three people, including a Murrieta man and his young cousin, and seriously injured three others.

The trial of Victoria Samantha Cook, 25, took place at , lasting seven days. The jury deliberated a day and a half before reaching its verdict Tuesday afternoon, according to court records.

Cook was also pinned with three sentence-enhancing counts of great bodily injury, which means she could be sentenced up to 17 years and eight months. Jurors found only one of four counts of great bodily injury not to be true, lessening what could have been a 30-year sentence.

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The June, 2, 2009, crash that killed Murrieta resident Cedric Twayne Page, 37, and his 11-year-old cousin, Zaria Williams, of San Jacinto, occurred on state Route 74 in Homeland, just west of Hemet.

Christine Emily Giambra, 72, of Fountain Valley, also died.

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According to the California Highway Patrol and prosecutors, Cook was driving erratically, speeding east on 74 when she made several unsafe lane changes, clipping one vehicle and causing other motorists to swerve.

Page and Zaria were in an Audi that was forced to swerve into oncoming traffic and into the path of a Mitsubishi being driven by Giambra, according to investigators.

"It's such a relief, but I still don't have my daughter or my cousin because of her decision to drive that way that day," Zaria's mother, Delisa Williams, told The Press-Enterprise. "To be honest, nothing can right this wrong. At the end of her term, she can still go on and have a chance to start over."

Another driver, trying to avoid the accident, also hit Page's vehicle. 

Three other people suffered serious injuries in the pile-up, according to the CHP.

Authorities said Cook remained at the scene but denied causing the wreck.

It was only after a year-long investigation that the CHP asked that charges be brought against her.

A key piece of evidence was footage from a video surveillance camera mounted outside a convenience store along the highway that allegedly showed Cook driving in a reckless manner, according to the CHP.

Cook's attorney, Joshua Knight, told The Press-Enterprise that his client broke down in tears when the verdict was issued.

"She certainly had no intention of hurting anyone and she was trying to avoid a serious road rage situation," Knight told the newspaper, adding that he plans to fight for a new trial.

He spoke of a black car that one witness said they saw weaving in and out of traffic complicating the scenario, for which the driver has never been located.

Cook is set to be sentenced July 27.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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