The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed a vehicular manslaughter charge without gross negligence in a fatal crash that occurred in November on San Francisquito Canyon Road.
Manual Rosas Aguilar, a 41-year-old Lancaster man, is being charged with a misdemeanor in the Nov. 27 collision that killed 31-year-old Cynthia Campana Contreras, a Valencia mother of two.
The initial call was for a traffic collision on San Francisquito, north of Pelton Street, involving a white Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Rosas Aguilar, and a 2017 Honda CRV driven by Campana Contreras.
California Highway Patrol officers determined that, for reasons that were unknown at the time the preliminary report was made, Rosas Aguilar’s truck, which was going north, crossed over the double-yellow lines on the winding rural road and crashed head-on into the CRV, which was heading south.
The truck was in flames when officers arrived, and Campana Contreras was trapped in her SUV, according to the report from investigating officers.
After attempting life-saving measures, emergency personnel called her time of death at 6:31 p.m., according to Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel.
Rosas Aguilar, who also sustained major injuries in the crash, was arrested in June following an investigation by the CHP’s Newhall Area Office.
The initial report did not indicate any criminal negligence as a factor in the crash, such as intoxication by the driver.
A spokesman for the CHP’s Newhall office declined to release any details regarding additional information in the investigation, citing that it’s part of an active case that’s heading to court.
A GoFundMe effort to support the Contreras family has garnered more than double its $20,000 goal through more than 300 donations as of Thursday.
The Lancaster community put together a petition in response to the charge brought against Rosas Aguilar, describing him as “a dedicated community citizen,” who “is facing charges that don’t represent the man we know and love,” according to a page on Change.org.
The petition has 92 signatures of its 100-person goal as of Thursday.
The next hearing date for Rosas Aguilar is Oct. 8.
