A senior San Diego County health official accused of fatally striking a 27-year-old woman in a hit-and-run crash pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court on Monday.
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Assmaa Elayyat, a deputy director in the county Health and Human Services Agency, is accused of crashing her sedan into a bus stop, killing Katie Osorio, who was seated on a bench, on May 22 in Southcrest.
Elayyat is charged with non-alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter and hit and run with death or permanent serious injury. The manslaughter charge includes special allegations of gross negligence and a vehicle code violation. Whether alcohol and/or drugs played a role in the crash remains under investigation, Deputy District Attorney Hailey Williams said Monday following Elayyat’s hearing.
Elayyat faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison if convicted as charged. She was released on a $50,000 bond.
During the court hearing Monday, Elayyat stood with her defense attorney before Judge Alana Robinson while Osorio’s friends and family filled multiple rows of the courtroom gallery. Some attendees carried signs with Osorio’s name and photo printed on them, while others wept quietly as they held one another.
Williams told the court that on the day of the crash, Elayyat was allegedly driving east in an Infiniti G35 on National Avenue near 35th Street. Around 1:50 p.m., the sedan veered into oncoming traffic, drove up the curb and slammed into the bus stop where Osorio was sitting, the prosecutor said.
The sedan then crashed into a tree behind the bus stop, striking it with such force that the car became temporarily stuck, Williams said. After a short struggle to free her car from the tree, Elayyat was able to put the car in reverse and nearly ran over Osorio a second time, according to the prosecutor.
The driver allegedly fled the scene, and Osorio was left mortally injured on the ground, Williams said.
San Diego police officers used automated license plate readers to quickly track down the car about a mile from the crash, the prosecutor said. According to Williams, an officer said that when he drove up to the heavily damaged sedan, the driver attempted to reverse into a parking lot and turn around before surrendering to police.
Elayyat told officers she “could not recall the collision, but admitted she may have struck a sign on National Avenue,” Williams said.
When further pressed by investigators, Elayyat then told officers that she was in distress over the May 18 shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Two teenage shooters had stormed the mosque, killing three men there, before killing themselves a few blocks away. Elayyat’s connection to the shooting was not immediately clear.
After Elayyat was arrested, investigators learned she had been convicted in 2010 for DUI in San Bernardino County.
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“The defendant knew that she struck something and even pulled over after the collision to confirm that there was extensive damage to her car, according to her statement to investigators,” Williams said. “But she decided that she needed to get herself home to safety rather than return to the scene or take responsibility for her actions.”
Elayyat’s defense attorney, Jeff Gold, argued that his client’s decisions on the day of the crash were based on “stress and emotions” from the recent murders at the mosque. He said his client had voluntarily enrolled herself in a house arrest program that can give defendants good behavior credits toward their sentencing if convicted following the crash, because Elayyat “felt it was the right thing to do.”
“Our goal is to make sure that she never makes decisions like this again,” Gold said. “She’s pulling herself up higher, to be better, because of the fact that she knows she is accountable.”
Robinson ultimately ordered that Elayyat be restricted from driving, not leave San Diego County unless given permission from the court and appear in person for future hearings.
Following the arraignment, Osorio’s loved ones described the victim as a family-oriented person who was working two jobs so she could not only send money back to her family in Mexico but also help pay for her upcoming wedding in July. She was on her way home from her second job when she was struck, Osario’s aunt, Dulce Amaya, said.
Osorio’s family also expressed their anger over Elayyat’s defense regarding the mosque shooting.
“To use a tragic event as an excuse … people lost their lives at the mosque,” Amaya said. “To use that excuse to keep herself at home. … Katie will never come home.”
Elayyat has worked for the county for six years and served for the last two years as a deputy director in the county’s public health office.
She also frequently advises the volunteer Social Services Advisory Board regarding public benefits and services to needy families and clients, according to county HHSA records posted online.
“Our hearts go out to the family, friends and all who are grieving during this incredibly difficult time,” county spokesperson Tammy Glenn said in a statement Monday.
County officials declined to comment on Elayyat’s current employment status or if she had a professional relationship with the mosque. “We are not able to provide confidential personnel information,” the spokesperson said.
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Gold declined to comment further on the case.
