Colombian nanny found guilty of second-degree murder

Associated Press:

Jimena Barreto, a nanny with a string of drunken-driving convictions, was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of second-degree murder in the hit-and-run deaths of two children who were struck down on a sidewalk during an evening stroll with their mother.

Barreto, 46, sobbed and buried her face in her lawyer's shoulder as the verdict was announced. She faces 30 years to life on the murder charges. She also was convicted of leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. Her sentencing is May 16.

Barreto had been seen drinking earlier in the day and then spotted driving erratically in her gold 1979 Mercedes before the crash on Oct. 26, 2003. She swerved across two lanes without braking and smashed into Troy Pack, 10, and his sister, Alana, 7, who were riding a scooter and a bike on their way to get Slurpees with their mother and friends.

The mother, Carmen Pack, tried to prevent Barreto from fleeing by taking away her car keys, but Barreto quietly disappeared into the crowd, and authorities weren't able to test her for alcohol and drugs. She was arrested two days later outside a brew pub in San Jose.

Prosecutors -- who increased the charges from manslaughter to murder at the urging of the grief-stricken parents -- said the evidence was circumstantial, but overwhelming. The case has attracted widespread attention not only because of the high-profile fight Robert and Carmen Pack waged, but because it's believed to be the first time a California resident has been prosecuted for murder based on intoxication that resulted from prescription drug abuse.

A teary-eyed Robert Pack, who had run barefoot to the crash scene after a frantic cell phone call from his wife, said the verdict is a relief.

"We wanted so much for the truth to come out that she was heavily impaired," Pack said, holding onto his wife in a courthouse hallway crowded with supporters wearing buttons with pictures of their dead children. "Carmen and I were both at the scene. We saw what happened."

While the Packs were tending to their mortally injured children at the crash scene, witnesses remembered Barreto wailing before she disappeared, saying over and over, "I'm not from this country. I'm going to go to jail" and "Those damn pills, those damn pills for my back."

Barreto, a native of Colombia, carried an expired insurance card, dummied-over to appear up-to-date. Records showed four previous convictions for driving under the influence, and her license had been suspended nine times. She had been arrested recently for drunk and disorderly conduct, and was an emotional wreck -- the man she'd been living with had left her.

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