Toyota's accelerator problem strikes again.. LOL
Victims from bus stop crash identified
By American-Statesman staff | Monday, March 8, 2010, 02:12 PM
Police today released the identities of two women who were struck by a car and killed Saturday morning as they waited at a bus stop on South First Street.
Maria N. Gaona De Corona, 53, and Adriana Morales-Catalán, 28, were killed about 7:30 a.m. when a car careened out of control and struck them, police said.
Austin police say the driver, Erick Armando Nuncio-Moreno, 19, was attempting to race another vehicle when he lost control.
Family members today said Corona was heading to her morning shift as a cook at Furr’s Cafeteria. Her house is less than a mile from the bus stop.
“She never asked anybody for rides,” said Corona’s son, Keith. “She was so prideful, she’d go out on her own.”
Morales-Catalán, who lived across the street from the bus stop, was heading to her job as a hotel housekeeper, family members said. She had taken the previous day off to celebrate her 28th birthday with her three young children.
“Estamos destrozados (We’re destroyed),” said Morales-Catalán’s sister-in-law, Balbina Morales-López.
Nuncio-Moreno has been charged with two counts of manslaughter, a second-degree felony. He is in custody and his bond has been set at $100,000.
According to his arrest affidavit, Nuncio-Moreno pulled up to the stop light at South First Street and Stassney Lane in his Toyota Celica sport coupe around 7:30 a.m. Saturday. He revved his engine at another driver, as if to initiate a street race, but that driver told police he heard the Celica’s engine and “knew it had something under the hood” and did not want to race, the affidavit said. When the light turned green, Nuncio-Moreno sped off, spinning the tires and heading north on South First Street, the affidavit said.
Nuncio-Moreno lost control of the Celica in the corner and left the roadway, striking the women at a Capital Metro bus stop near Emerald Wood Drive just north of Stassney Lane. One woman died at the scene, police said, and the other was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge, where she died.
Another man who was waiting at the bus stop jumped out of the way before the crash and was not injured, police say. That man did not wish to speak to a reporter Saturday.
Nuncio-Moreno was pinned inside the Celica and had to be removed by the Austin Fire Department, the affidavit said. The bus stop was completely destroyed by the crash.
Witnesses estimated Nuncio-Moreno was driving between 75 and 90 mph, while the posted speed limit is 35 mph, the affidavit said. There were no skid marks on the road to indicate braking, the affidavit said. There was no evidence of alcohol being involved in the wreck, the affidavit said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call APD Vehicular Homicide Unit Detectives at 974-4724.
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