Prosecutor: Driver In Hit-And-Run Death Left For Job Interview
MEDFORD (CBS/AP) – The driver charged in a fatal hit-and-run in Cambridge left the scene after driving over the 80-year-old victim because she was heading to a job interview, prosecutors said Friday.
Ashley Monturio, 41, of Pembroke allegedly got out of her SUV, stood over the victim's body, got back into her SUV, called 911 and told the dispatcher that a woman in a walker may have fallen down.
The dispatcher then asked Monturio to stay on the scene until emergency crews arrived, but she said she could not stay because she had a job interview, according to prosecutors.
Monturio was released on personal recognizance after a not guilty plea to a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident was entered on her behalf at her arraignment in Cambridge District Court in Medford. She did not speak to reporters before or after her arraignment.
Monturio was arrested Thursday, after turning herself in to police. Her attorney, while not addressing the specifics of the case, said his client is "deeply saddened and very apologetic."
Romelia Gallardo was returning from the grocery store and pushing a wheeled walker when she was struck by an SUV in the parking lot at the Cambridge Housing Authority, where she lived. She bent down to pick something up, and that's when police say Monturio struck her and drove over her.
Surveillance video from a nearby building captured the hit-and-run.
The front of Monturio's SUV drove over Gallardo "as if it's going over a speed bump," prosecutor Marin Schraeder said in court.
"It slows down after the front wheels do this, then the back wheels go up and over again as if going up over a speed bump over Ms. Gallardo's body," Schraeder said.
She was rushed to Cambridge Hospital where she died. Her family said she was a native of Guatemala.
Family members were visibly distraught in court when Monturio was released following her arraignment. Prosecutors say she had no record and is not considered to be a flight risk.
"There's no bail. There's no justice over here," said the victim's grandson, Jose Mazariegos. "So I can just run over somebody right now, call the police and just leave, and that's it, and just be at court tomorrow."
Friends of the victim were angered by her tragic death, and after Monturio walked out of court.
"You just killed somebody, up and left, went on about your business, who knows what you did after," said Janel Valles.
"I couldn't sleep last night. I was thinking of her, thinking that would have been me passing by, and how did this happen?" said Zuni Garcia.
Witnesses Heidi Caswell said she heard Monturio on the phone at the scene telling police a different story.
"I heard her say that, 'It looked like the woman fell' but from what I saw, it didn't look like she fell at all, it looked like somebody had hit her," Caswell said.
Witnesses said Monturio left the scene after hearing the sound of sirens approaching.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
