Homicide charges filed in Highway 99 crash that killed woman and 1-year-old daughter
A 68-year-old Yuba City woman has been arrested on murder charges in a crash last month in Sutter County that killed a woman and her 1-year-old daughter.
Prosecutors have charged Vickie Lynn Hedden with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of 21-year-old Allyson Nohelia Navarro-Salazar, of Gridley, and her daughter, Laylani.
Hedden appeared in court Thursday for her arraignment hearing, according to Sutter Superior Court records. She pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. She also pleaded not guilty to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing death or injury, driving under the influence of alcohol and hit-and-run resulting in property damage.
The fatal, head-on crash involving two vehicles occurred about 6 p.m. June 9 on Highway 99, just north of Paseo Road, according to the Sutter County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Hedden drove away from a previous crash that she caused in the nearby town of Live Oak, driving at a high rate of speed south on Highway 99. Her vehicle reportedly crossed the center line before side-swiping a semitrailer heading in the opposite direction.
Hedden’s vehicle continued down the highway where she again crossed into the northbound lane and collided head-on with the vehicle carrying Navarro-Salazar, her daughter and her husband, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The mother and her daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. A male passenger in the same vehicle suffered major injuries but survived the crash, authorities said
Hedden also was injured in the crash and was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center for treatment. Prosecutors said Hedden was released from the hospital about a week later, but her whereabouts were unknown to law enforcement officials.
Authorities found Hedden on Wednesday and arrested her following further investigation by the District Attorney’s Office.
“The public is much safer now that Hedden is in custody, where she belongs following this horrific collision,” Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer R. Dupré said in a statement.
Hedden is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a bail review hearing. She remained in custody Friday afternoon at the Sutter County Jail with her bail set at $2 million, prosecutors said.
Investigators asked any witnesses who saw either crash allegedly involving Hedden on June 9 to asked to call the District Attorney’s Office at 530-822-7330.
