Apple Employee Charged With Murder: Nearly 100 mph Rear-End Crash in Cupertino Killed a 2-Year-Old Girl
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office on November 10 charged Eric Chen Su, a 38-year-old Apple employee, with murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say that on November 6, near Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California, he rear-ended a car stopped at a red light at nearly 100 miles per hour, killing 2-year-old Riley Kathryn Howard and seriously injuring her babysitter.
According to a Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office statement of facts, the crash happened at 12:01 p.m. on November 6 at the intersection of North Tantau and Pruneridge avenues, near the Apple Park Visitor Center. Su was driving a black Toyota Camry northbound at more than 90 mph in a 30 mph zone when he struck a stopped blue Chevrolet without braking; the Camry's speedometer was frozen at 100 mph after the impact. The struck car caught fire, and bystanders pulled the toddler and the babysitter, who was driving, from the vehicle.
Riley Kathryn Howard, of San Jose, was in a child safety seat and died after being taken to a hospital; the babysitter suffered head and spinal injuries and remained hospitalized. Su was first arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter before prosecutors filed the murder case in Palo Alto court on November 10. Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker said Su was travelling at about four times the speed limit and that murder was unquestionably the appropriate charge. Su appeared in a wheelchair, entered no plea, and his next hearing is set for November 30. A memorial was held at the crash site on November 7, and a makeshift memorial remains there.
Source: Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州库比蒂诺的苹果园区 Apple Park（资料图）。图：Arne Müseler，CC BY-SA 3.0 de，经维基共享资源 / Apple Park in Cupertino, California (file photo). Photo by Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons
