In June 2007 a young girl was killed in a hit and run. Her name was Megan Smith. Whatever happened in that case – was anyone convicted? I know they believed it was a stolen car, and I heard they had suspects who had drug-related warrants, but never any outcome.

– Concerned, Sacramento

Tamara Broadnax pleaded guilty to the June 14, 2007, hit-and-run death of Folsom teenager Megan Smith, and Broadnax's boyfriend, Kenneth Peoples, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crime.

Smith, 16, was struck while crossing Walerga Road, near Kirkby Way in North Highlands. Soon afterward, investigators focused their attention on a stolen Chevrolet Cobalt that was found abandoned on Watt Avenue, not far from the scene of the fatal incident, according to a story in The Bee.

CHP officials said Broadnax's association with Peoples was key to their arrest. Investigators described Peoples as a parolee and known drug dealer. Broadnax also had a no-bail warrant for drug possession.

According to Sacramento Superior Court online records, Broadnax pleaded guilty in October 2009 and was sentenced to four years in prison. An online roster of state prison inmates indicates that she is no longer in prison.

Peoples, 48, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and is incarcerated at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy.

What was the sentencing outcome of the trial of former Folsom prison guard Richard Otto in 2007? I sat on the jury but did not attend the sentencing.

– Xavier, Sacramento

Richard Steven Otto was found guilty of five counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, according to Sacramento Superior Court online records. He was sentenced in May 2007 to 25 years to life in state prison.

Otto, 54, is serving time at the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown.

What happened to Patrick Baccari? He was caught in New York in October 2011.

– Michelle, Sacramento

Patrick Gregory Baccari, 32, is incarcerated at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy.

Last fall, the Placer County District Attorney's Office was prosecuting Baccari, a Roseville resident, for the 2009 rape of a woman in her late 20s in Rocklin. According to a story in The Bee, Baccari was out on $50,000 bail when he went on the run Oct. 17.

He originally was arrested in 2009 and was out on bail pending trial. When he failed to return to court during the trial, a warrant was issued for his arrest and the trial continued without him.

He was convicted of four felony charges Oct. 19. On Oct. 28, the FBI arrested Baccari in New York City and he was subsequently returned to California.

Several years ago, there was an auto accident in Galt that killed a young man. His father seemed to think it was no accident and killed the boy that was driving the vehicle. Whatever happened to the father?

– Bonnie, Galt

Pal Singh Chima was found guilty of first-degree murder in the May 2, 1992, shooting death of 19-year-old Alcides Sousa DeMelo.

According to stories in The Bee, Chima believed DeMelo was involved in the hit-and-run death of his son.

Jessy Chima survived the rollover crash of his small pickup truck on Jan. 16, 1992, but was killed moments later by a hit-and-run driver on Highway 99 south of Elk Grove, as he tried to cross the northbound lanes.

The prosecutor said the elder Chima became obsessed with his son's death and lured DeMelo to his home to confront him about what he believed was DeMelo's role in Jessy Chima's death.

Pal Singh Chima said during the trial that he shot DeMelo in self-defense after the young man attacked him and cut him with a knife. He said DeMelo came to his home angry that day because Chima had turned him in to the California Highway Patrol, which was investigating the accident. He denied that he ever thought of DeMelo as a prime suspect, only a prime witness.

DeMelo, whose family owned a dairy down the road from the Chimas' house, had been at the accident scene that night, but investigations by the CHP and an investigator hired by Chima cleared DeMelo of any involvement.

Pal Singh Chima was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Now 67 years old, he is at California State Prison, Solano, in Vacaville.

– Cathy Locke

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