Southbound Highway 101, Prunedale, Calif. (Google Maps image)
A Prunedale man has been charged with second-degree murder after his 7-year-old daughter was fatally struck by a car while running on Highway 101 near their home.
The father “displayed negligence” and “failed to provide essential safety measures,” the Monterey County district attorney’s office said in announcing the charges Thursday, July 6.
The child, named Eliana, was struck by several cars in the southbound lanes of 101 just south of Highway 156 around 10:48 p.m. on April 7, 2023. She was alone and wearing dark clothes, according to statements reported at the time from a driver.
The prosecutors’ announcement said the child was known to leave home by herself and had been rescued by California Highway Patrol officers on the same stretch of Highway 101 three weeks before her death.
The charges against her 42-year-old father also include felony child abuse. He was booked into Monterey County Jail on Thursday.
Originally published at Bay Area News Group