Manslaughter Charge Filed Against 21-Year-Old Driver After Fatal Crash

SAN JACINTO, CA — A 21-year-old motorist accused of fatally hitting a bicyclist at a San Jacinto intersection, then fleeing the scene, was charged Wednesday with gross vehicular manslaughter.

Savaughn JoJuan Colon Barnes of Hemet was arrested Sunday night following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the death of 31-year-old Margarito Castro of San Jacinto.

Along with the manslaughter count, Barnes was charged with a sentence-enhancing allegation of fleeing the scene of a crime.

He was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Banning Justice Center. The defendant is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at the nearby Smith Correctional Facility.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Dawn Blair, about 8 p.m. Sunday, Castro was in the center median, waiting to cross State Street at Dillon Avenue, when Barnes approached, going southbound on State "at a high rate of speed" in his Hyundai sedan.

"The driver of the Hyundai entered the center median ... and struck the victim," Blair said.
She alleged that Barnes didn't stop.

Witnesses called 911, and fire department paramedics reached the location within a few minutes, pronouncing Castro dead at the scene.

"A witness came forward and provided the license plate of the suspect vehicle," Blair said.

She said patrol deputies found Barnes' car parked outside an apartment building in the 1900 block of Acacia Avenue in Hemet, where the defendant was taken into custody without incident.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

A GoFundMe page set up for the Castro family had raised over $1,300 as of Wednesday afternoon.

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