Article taken from OC Register

Racers get 6 years for manslaughter
Julio Enrique Trujillo, 25, and Rodrigo Orejel Gomez, 22, were street racing when Trujillo hit a car driven by Margaret Levya, 74, killing her instantly.

By LARRY WELBORNE
The Orange County Register


Two street racers pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter Thursday after a Superior Court jury deadlocked on second-degree murder charges for killing a Huntington Beach woman when one of the drivers lost control of his car.

Julio Enrique Trujillo, 25, and Rodrigo Orejel Gomez, 22, both of Santa Ana, accepted six years in prison each rather than risk a second trial which could have led to life prison terms for both.

They were racing on busy Bristol Street in the middle of the afternoon on May 1, 2003, when Trujillo lost control of his yellow Mustang GT, crossed into opposing traffic and struck a Volkswagen Golf driven by Margaret Levya, 74, of Huntington Beach. Leyva, a drug and alcohol abuse counselor, was killed instantly.

Manuel Leyva, the victim's 57-year-old son, said Thursday that he was disappointed that the jury failed to convict the two racers of the more serious murder charges.

"I hope my mother didn't die in vain," he said outside the 10th-floor courtroom. "The word needs to go out that street racing kills."

Meanwhile, Miguel Angel Trujillo and Rosa Melgar, Jose Trujillo's parents,wept in the back of the courtroom gallery when they learned that their son was going to prison for six years