Thank you for your latest article on this sad case (death of Patrick O’Connor update, which ran in the March 2 issue of the Journal). We are friends of the O'Connor family and some of us are involved with law enforcement.

Our fear, due to the attitude of the DA's office, is that they will offer a very lenient plea deal with Ms. Carrillo involving very little if any jail time. In our words, they want this case to go away with a "guilty plea" but a mere slap of the wrist for punishment. This is a cold callous death case. We still do not understand how the CHP did not arrest Ms. Carrillo that day after she admitted to officers that she knew she hit someone and still fled the scene.

If this occurred in Orange County, she would have been arrested for at least felony hit and run, a blood test taken and the vehicle impounded. We would have also obtained a warrant for her cell phone records to investigate the possibility of her being distracted by using her cell phone during the collision. 

At least, I understand that the vehicle was impounded in this case. There doesn't appear to be much interest in this case in the community, which is also interesting. There has not been much press coverage on it. Our big question continues to be "Why?"

Are officials lax in their duties? Does Ms. Carrillo have some connections with family or community ties? So again, thank you for this article and please continue to monitor this case. Someone needs to hold people accountable for their actions. Similar cases around the state can be reviewed for comparisons.

— Michael Jackson