Defendant Juan Jose Torres Majia, 26, wept as he looked at photos of the Christmas Day accident that killed his passenger, Juli Ann Woodbury, 48, of Alexandria.
Woodbury was pronounced dead on Monday, Jan. 3 at Washington Hospital Center, according to Alexandria Police reports.
With a translator next to him, Torres Majia, of North Armistead Street in Alexandria, appeared for his preliminary hearing in Alexandria General District Court on Monday, Feb. 14. He was originally arrested the night of the accident with his second offense of driving while intoxicated.
"The victim was riding in a 1991 Toyota Celica that was traveling on North Beauregard Street when the driver lost control and struck a tree," according to an Alexandria Police Department press release.
Following Woodbury's death, Torres Majia, who is currently being held without bond at the Alexandria jail, now faces a charge of either involuntary manslaughter or aggravated involuntary manslaughter.
<b>OFFICER LORENZO HARDY</b> testified during the preliminary hearing that he arrived at the intersection of North Beauregard and North Armistead streets at 2 a.m. on Dec. 25, and found the car Torres Majia was driving cut in half.
There was a 10 feet radius of debris, he said. Skid marks were 137.5 feet long, testified officer Mark Morgan.
Eight to 10 medics were on the scene.
Torres Majia was "angry and irritated," Hardy said. Officers handcuffed Torres Majia to a gurney to help keep him calm, Hardy said.
"He was very combative, yelling, thrashing about," testified officer Seth Weinstein, who smelled a "very strong" odor of alcohol from Torres Majia when he arrived at the scene at 2:20 a.m.
Weinstein testified that he followed the ambulance that took Torres Majia to Alexandria Hospital where Weinstein placed him under arrest. Torres Majia was not seriously injured, according to police reports.
At the hospital, Torres Majia told Weinstein that he goes to Clyde's every week, Weinstein testified.
"I'm drunk, OK? Don't play with me, I'm drunk," Weinstein said Torres Majia told him. "He was very loud, profane, he was yelling a lot, his speech was slurred."
"Now, I have a reason to tell my girlfriend why I didn't want to drive," Weinstein said Torres Majia told him.
Woodbury's husband — who was also Torres Majia's roommate at the time — testified Monday that he last saw his wife on Dec. 22. When he went to Washington Medical Center after the accident, she was unconscious, he testified.
<b>TORRES MAJIA'S CASE</b>is scheduled to be heard by the grand jury in March.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorneys Laura Greene and Elliott Casey haven't decided whether they will prosecute Torres Majia for involuntary manslaughter or aggravated involuntary manslaughter, Greene said.
She said a conviction of aggravated involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence from one to 20 years, while a conviction on involuntary manslaughter could carry a sentence of one to 10 years.
<1b>— Reporter Michael Lee Pope also contributed to this story.