by James Cohen
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| Blood visible on front left bumper |
Robert Juarez received a frantic call from his daughter around 1 a.m. on Thursday, August 29th 2013 and rushed out to the 210 freeway in Sylmar.
His daughter, who did not want to be identified, was a passenger in a white car heading eastbound on the 210. Near Hubbard St. the red car in front of them started swerving and almost hit the center divider. Then its passenger side door opened and a woman fell out. The white car couldn’t avoid her.
Juarez’s daughter told a KNBC reporter, “I was freaking out. I really wasn’t sure what had happened and i just have the image, like, playing in my head, of the girl, the impact, the girl, the impact, the lights.”
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| Maria "Josie" Jimenez |
Several vehicles struck the victim, 22-year-old Maria “Josie” Jimenez, as the red car sped away. Officers stated that she was alive when she fell out but the drivers that hit her are not being investigated.
The red car Jimenez was ejected from turned out to be her own, driven at the time by Ricardo Jimenez. Though they happened to have the same last name, the two were not related but were “in a dating relationship”, according to authorities, despite the fact Josie was already married. She and her husband were apparently estranged; he had reported her missing before her body was identified and is not under suspicion.
Witnesses place the couple, along with Josie’s best friend, at a Sylmar tattoo parlor before midnight. Ricardo reportedly caused a scene, becoming verbally abusive towards Josie, at which point her best friend left.
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| Ricardo Jimenez |
A woman living near the tattoo parlor later went to the police station to report that Josie had knocked on her door and asked for a ride.
Failing to find another way home she eventually got into her own car, driven by Ricardo. They were only five minutes away from the Hubbard St. off ramp.
Ricardo Jimenez turned himself in to the Glendale Police Dept. on the following Saturday morning, after authorities announced they were looking for him. He was booked the same day and transferred to Van Nuys. He was charged with murder on Sept. 3rd and will be back in court on the 23rd. “One key factor in deciding to arrest”, LAPD Mission tweeted, “was amount of blood present on passenger side of red car.”
