‘We are all struggling’ Atwater family upset with charges in crash that killed sisters
Michelle Elissiry says she doesn’t leave her home very often. If she does, it’s to go to work or grief therapy.
It’s been the same routine for her father Bob Edwards and brother Rob for the past nine months since Edward’s wife Billie, 73, and her sister Carolyn Rose, 76, were struck and killed by a vehicle while on their morning walk last Nov. 2.
“We’re not coping very well,” Elissiry said. “We have everything delivered. We are all struggling.”
The family wasn’t happy when they found out the 55-year old Atwater women, who was driving the vehicle that killed the two sisters, will face two misdemeanor charges.
Debra Huddleston is facing two counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.
Huddleston was driving a black Chrysler mini van, traveling westbound on East Juniper in Awater in November when it left the roadway and struck Edwards and Rose.
Rose and Edwards were killed instantly.
The family of the two victims say the potential punishment is not enough. The maximum penalty for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter is one year in county jail.
“I’m devastated, my mom and my aunt are gone forever,” said Elissiry. “They were the pillars of our family. Their lives are worth more than this.”
“Two misdemeanor charges, she may not even do any jail time,” Elissiry added. “There’s that potential. I’m going to push that she gets a year each. I want to see her have to pay for what she has done.”
During a press conference in November, Atwater Police Chief Michael Salvador announced the police department recommended the suspect receive felony charges.
Salvador announced during the press conference the investigation revealed the cause of the collision was the vehicle making an unsafe lane change, causing it to leave the roadway and placing it in the path of the two women who were walking on the sidewalk.
Neither alcohol or speed, played a factor in the collision, according to police.
The family believes mistakes made by the Atwater Police Department during their investigation led to the lesser misdemeanor charges.
“I understand what the family wants,” Salvador said. “I’m hoping for a successful prosecution. I feel for the family, I absolutely do. They lost loved ones. I have to revert back that it was an extensive investigation, it was a lot of work by my team and now it’s time to go to court.”
Elissiry says Huddleston wasn’t given a field sobriety test by officers after the incident. She says the Atwater police returned Huddleston’s cell phone to her just 23 hours after the collision.
Meanwhile the victims’ phones weren’t returned to the family until February.
“The Atwater Police Department has denied us the justice we deserve,” Elissiry said. “Not doing the field sobriety test screwed us, giving the phone back. The police report being a mess in itself creates a problem because it’s a credibility problem if it had to go to court. The fact that so many mistakes were made that justice will not be served.”
Salvador says he respectfully disagrees.
“I revert back to the fact that there are six search warrants on this case, there are two toxicology results in this case — one for alcohol and one for drugs,” Salvador said. “The length of time it took for us to get to this point, we’re competing with limited resources. We share a crime lab with agencies from Sacramento to Merced.”
Salvador said his department executed search warrants, including warrants for cell phone records, infotainment systems and medical records.
“The cell phone is the most important tool we use in a death investigation cases,” Salvador said. “The data is the data. People think when they delete digital data that it is gone forever and companies taut the fact that their encryption is unbreakable. That isn’t the truth. It’s just not.”
Salvador says there wasn’t enough probable cause at the time of the collision to do a field sobriety test.
“There was no evidence of alcohol at the time of the collision,” he said. “A prescription drug thing is something you only get with blood tests and toxicology results and the driver of the vehicle fully cooperated with us, and gave us a blood sample contemporaneous to the accident.”
According to the police report, a toxicology report showed there was gabapentin and hydrocodone in Huddleston’s system.
“The family isn’t going to be happy unless this lady spends the rest of her life in prison,” Salvador said. “They’re not happy with me, they’re not happy with my department and I can understand that. They lost two loved ones. I get it.”
“I think it’s a prosecutable case,” Salvador added. “I think we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the driver was impaired.”
Elissiry says the family plans to file a complaint with the state Attorney General’s Office and have reached out to Congressman John Duarte’s Office.
“I really hope I don’t need to go that route,” Elissiry said. “I hope that we can get this resolved. I’m not a litigious person, that’s not what I’m after here. I’m after justice for my mom and my aunt. I’m not after money.”
An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Aug. 14 at the Merced County Superior Court.
