A Redondo Beach woman was charged today with four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated stemming from a crash outside a church that killed three women and a 6-year-old boy who were crossing a street.
Margo Bronstein, 56, is expected to be arraigned this afternoon in Torrance. She was also charged with a single count of driving under the influence of a drug causing injury.
The charges were filed just hours after officials announced that 6-year-old Samuel Gaza, who wound up pinned under a front tire of Bronstein’s car, died at a hospital.
According to police, Bronstein ran a red light around 8 p.m. Wednesday, plowing into a group of about a dozen pedestrians who had just attended a Christmas concert at St. James Catholic School and Parish near Pacific Coast Highway and Vincent Street.
The group was walking across PCH when they were struck by the white Saturn. The driver of the northbound car continued through the intersection, swerved into the southbound lanes and slammed into another vehicle — all while dragging Samuel Gaza, a kindergartener at the church school.
Also killed were Samuel’s mother, 36-year-old Martha Gaza, and Mary Wilson, 81, and Saeko Matsumura, 87, all of Torrance.
Police said a total of 11 pedestrians were struck — including the four who died — although the criminal complaint names a total of nine victims.
Michael Tovar, a witness to the crash, said he saw victims “flying in the air,” and he approached the driver afterward.
“I yelled at her and I asked her, ‘What did you do?’ And she just looked at me, blank-eyed,” he said. “Me and another gentleman looked down and I thought it was a jacket that the car was on, but it was a little boy. And it turns out this little boy was my granddaughter’s school mate.”
Dozens of parishioners attended a midday Mass at the church Thursday to pray for the victims.
The Los Angeles Times, citing Department of Motor Vehicles records, reported that Bronstein had a clean driving record. She has some driving restrictions, such as using hand-controlled brakes and being required to have an additional right-side mirror, The Times reported.
On her Facebook page, Bronstein posted photos Tuesday from a trip to Disneyland, where she apparently went with family on Monday to celebrate her birthday. The photos show her using a mobility scooter.
Bronstein faces up to 40 years in state prison if convicted, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors plan to ask that her bail be set at $500,000.
Prosecutors did not specify what drug was allegedly found in Bronstein’s system following the crash. Police speculated earlier this week that she had been on prescription medication.
