A woman accused of striking several pedestrians, killing one, near San Francisco’s Twin Peaks lookout point earlier this month pleaded not guilty today to vehicular manslaughter, DUI and hit-and-run charges, a district attorney’s office spokeswoman said.
Gina Eunice, 23, allegedly fatally struck 56-year-old Chinese citizen Yuee Yao at about 8:50 p.m. on Dec. 20 on Christmas Tree Point Road near Twin Peaks, police said.
Prosecutors said in court during Eunice’s arraignment this morning that she allegedly had a blood alcohol content of .23 at the time of the collision, according to district attorney’s office spokeswoman Stephanie Ong Stillman.
Eunice pleaded not guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, two counts of DUI causing injury and one count of hit-and-run, all felonies. She also pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of endangering the health of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Eunice had been held on $2 million bail but her attorney had sought to have bail reduced to $500,000, Stillman said.
Prosecutors argued against that bail reduction, noting the high blood alcohol content and saying Eunice showed no remorse following the collision, Stillman said.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge ordered her held on $1 million bail and she will return to court on Jan. 14 for a status hearing, Stillman said.
Police said Eunice’s sedan struck Yao and two other victims, knocking them off the roadway and down a hillside. The victims were transported to a hospital where Yao died. The other two victims did not have life-threatening injuries.
Police found the sedan in the lookout point parking lot and took Eunice into custody.
Officers also arrested two men, ages 22 and 25, on suspicion of public drunkenness.
A 17-year-old girl in the car suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital as well, police said.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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