REDWOOD CITY >> A man who crashed into a San Carlos family’s car while street racing in 2022, killing the parents instantly, has been sentenced to 90 days of electronic home monitoring, according to the San Mateo County district attorney’s office.
Cesar Morales, 20, who was a minor at the time of the crash, was racing on El Camino Real and reaching speeds of over 80 miles per hour when he crashed into the car of Grace Spiridon and Gregory Ammen. The crash orphaned the couple’s 7-year-old twin daughters, one of whom was also injured in the collision.
According to the DA’s office, San Mateo County Judge Susan I. Etezadi had declined to try Morales as an adult. Morales was 17 at the time of the crash.
Last November, Etezadi convicted Morales of two counts of felony vehicular manslaughter but not the two counts of second-degree murder prosecutors had filed, the DA’s office said. Morales was also found guilty of three counts of engaging in a speed contest resulting in great bodily injury and one count of engaging in a speed contest.
Family members of Spiridon and Ammen spoke at the hearing and showed a video of the twin girls at different times in their lives, according to the DA’s office.
Morales’ sentence means he must remain at home with his parents except for school, medical appointments and other allowed activities, according to the DA’s office. He will remain under probation supervision for a maximum of one year.
His attorney, Kevin Nowack, said in a statement that the court was correct to rule that Morales’ conduct was manslaughter and stated that charge is not an offense eligible for transfer to adult court. He added that Morales spent more than two years incarcerated during this case.
“The sense of loss, grief, pain suffered by the Spiridon-Ammen family is immeasurable. I did my best at the disposition hearing to acknowledge their grief,” he said. “This case is a terrible tragedy. The Spiridon- Ammen family has suffered greatly. However, the ruling and disposition in this case were proper and in accord with California statutory law and California case law.”
The other driver — Kyle Harrison, who was 23 at the time of the crash — pleaded no contest to charges including vehicular manslaughter. He faces up to nine years and four months in prison when he is sentenced next month.
The race between the two drivers began with an encounter around 8 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2022, as they waited at a red light in San Carlos. About half a mile into the race, Morales’ Mercedes-Benz E55 hit the victims’ car, which was turning left from northbound El Camino Real onto Finger Avenue in Redwood City.