A jury in Orange County acquitted 38-year-old Jim Christopher Rosado of murder this week in connection with a fatal crash that killed his 18-year-old niece on the northbound I-5 Freeway in Irvine. Prosecutors alleged Rosado was under the influence of methamphetamine and heroin when he lost control of his car at roughly 90 mph and veered off the freeway near Culver Drive on June 13, 2021. His niece, Vanessa Ramirez, was ejected from the backseat and died at the scene, while her friend Sarah Portillo suffered a broken collarbone. Rosado still faces a separate charge of driving under the influence of drugs causing injury.
According to the Orange County Register, jurors reached the acquittal on the murder count after deliberating in a trial that opened with testimony that Rosado’s Honda Accord struck a sign, guardrail, electrical box and pole before going airborne into trees near the freeway shoulder. The outlet reported that prosecutors argued Rosado acted with implied malice by driving erratically before the crash, while the defense maintained he lacked the state of mind required for a murder conviction. The case drew added attention because of the family relationship between Rosado and the niece he was driving home from a party in Oceanside. Available coverage of the 2021 crash does not detail how long freeway lanes were affected during the emergency response.