A Canyon Country woman facing a charge of vehicular manslaughter for allegedly killing a Saugus mother of six in a DUI crash was also charged with murder Friday.
Alexia Alilah Cina, 21, appeared Friday in San Fernando Superior Court where she was charged with one felony count each of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury and driving with more than .08 percent blood alcohol content causing injury.
“Case PA089771 includes allegations that Cina inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim, Katie Snyder Evans,” Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release issued Friday.
According to prosecutors, Cina was driving southbound on Golden Valley Road at a high rate of speed on Oct. 6 when she hit the center median and crashed into Evans’ vehicle on the northbound side of the road, prosecutors said.
Bail which was initially set at $200,000 was raised to $2.1 million Friday.
If convicted as charged, Cina faces a possible maximum sentence of 18 years to life in state prison, Santiago said.
Cina was arrested Wednesday after traffic investigators with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station obtained the results of toxicology tests which allegedly reveal she had a blood alcohol content of .21 at the time of the crash.
The legal blood/alcohol limit is .08.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Clarita Station.
News that murder was added to the list offenses Cina is alleged to have committed comes on the day the Evans family buries Katie Snyder Evans in Utah.
Her widower, Jacob, told The Signal Wednesday that he is trying to focus on his family.
“Obviously, there are consequences when things happen,” he said. “But I don’t wish any more ill on anyone.
“I am trying to focus on my family,” he said. “I’m trying to help my family heal.
At the time of the fatal crash, Katie Evans was about a mile from her home, returning from a visit with her premature twins in the hospital, according to Natalie Mortensen who set a fundraising page for the Evans family online.
Evans couldn’t go a day without visiting her new twins at the hospital, according to Mortensen.
Jacob and Katie – now just Jacob – had six children, each with their own character and their own needs. They are Spencer (12), Travis (11), Nathaniel (9), Gideon (2) and twin newborn girls Hannah and Sarah, each just 10 weeks old.
As of Friday afternoon, more than $326,000 had been raised for the Evans family.
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