Driver agrees to 13-year jail time period for killing mom of seven who spoke out in opposition to violence

OAKLAND — Prosecutors and protection attorneys have reached a plea settlement over the 2020 hit-and-run crash that killed a mom of seven kids as she crossed the road to select up a baby from college, court docket data present.

Henry Melendez, 30, pleaded no contest to manslaughter within the loss of life of 40-year-old Miesha Singleton, a San Leandro resident and anti-violence activist, and has agreed to a 13-year jail time period. Singleton was in a crosswalk and on her technique to choose up her little one from Elmhurst United Center College on the 1800 block of 98th Avenue in East Oakland, when Melendez drove a white Nissan into her and stored going, authorities mentioned.

Authorities say he then hit a automobile at Plymouth Road and 98th Avenue, and drove away from that crash as nicely.

Melendez was initially charged with voluntary manslaughter, however the Alameda County District Lawyer upgraded the fees to homicide in 2021. The homicide cost was dismissed as a part of the plea deal, court docket data present.

Within the second crash, a passenger snapped images of Melendez’s Nissan Maxima that have been later used to determine him as a suspect, police mentioned. Police decided Melendez lived at 88th Avenue in Oakland and reviewed surveillance video that confirmed him driving recklessly on different events, in keeping with a possible trigger assertion filed in court docket.

Police obtained a warrant to arrest Melendez in Could 2020, however he wasn’t arrested till days after police put out his mugshot and publicly recognized him as a needed suspect. He was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Los Angeles on Could 18 and extradited to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in July of that yr, court docket data present.

Melendez stays within the jail, pending a sentencing listening to. After that, he’ll be transferred into the state jail system. He will get credit score for the time he spent in pretrial detention whereas the case was pending.