(The story has been updated with information from the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office.)
An Oxnard man has been charged with two counts of murder after two bicyclists died a week ago, according to authorities.
Gabriel Esquivel, 24, was charged with second-degree murder stemming from a June 11 crash and deaths of two bicyclists on Highway 1, otherwise known as Pacific Coast Highway, north of downtown Ventura, according to a Ventura County District Attorney’s Office news release.
Esquivel is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher causing injury to a third bicyclist and driving while his license was suspended or revoked, the release says.
The complaint adds a special allegation of inflicting great bodily injury during the commission of a felony.
On June 11 around 7:10 p.m., authorities received calls of a crash between a vehicle and three bicyclists on northbound PCH by Solimar Beach Drive, according to a California Highway Patrol news release.
The crash site was just outside of the city of Ventura, Andrew Dowd, spokesperson for Ventura County Fire Department, previously said.
CHP and Ventura County Fire Department arrived on scene and found a crash involving a 2007 gray Nissan Frontier pickup truck and three bicyclists, the CHP release says.
An initial investigation found the Nissan driven by Esquicel traveling northbound on PCH at about 50 to 55 mph, CHP said. The truck veered onto the right shoulder and entered the designated bicycle lane, where the three bicyclists were headed northbound, the release said.
The truck apparently approached the bicyclists from behind and struck all three of them, the release says. The Nissan continued northbound, hit a guardrail and came to a stop on the shoulder.
Bystanders appeared to have aided the bicyclists even before emergency personnel arrived, CHP said.
“One bicyclist sustained fatal injuries” from the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene by authorities. The bicyclist was a 33-year-old woman from Bend, Oregon, Officer Everardo Mendoza-Barragan, spokesperson for the CHP, previously said.
She has been identified as Kellie Standish, dead from multiple blunt force injuries and her death was deemed accidental, the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office said by email June 17.
A second bicyclist had major injuries from the crash and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital but later died from the injuries at the hospital, the release says. The cyclist was a 39-year-old man from Ventura, Mendoza-Barragan said.
He has been identified as William Tucker, dead from multiple blunt force injuries and his death was deemed accidental, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The third bicyclist, a woman, also had injuries and was taken to a local hospital, officials said.
Investigators determined the driver allegedly did not have a valid state driver’s license, the DA’s office release said. He was charged with murder because he was warned about how deadly impaired driving can be, officials said. After his arrest last year on Dec. 19, the man received multiple warnings of the possibility of being charged with murder should the impaired driving offense be repeated and results in someone dying, officials said.
The CHP arrested the man on suspicion of felony DUI causing injury and second-degree murder among other offenses, jail records show. He is being held at Ventura County jail and another Ventura County Superior Court hearing is scheduled for June 22, records show.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Oxnard man charged with murder in crash killing two bicyclists on PCH
Reporting by Staff reports, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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By Staff reports, Ventura County Star | USA TODAY Network
