Crime & Safety
Fugitive Must Stand Trial For Manslaughter In Corona Freeway Death
Robert Chico Griffin, 47, was extradited back to the U.S. and will stand trial in the death of Danelle Aguirre, 41, of Moreno Valley.
CORONA, CA — A man accused of killing a 41-year-old woman on the Corona (71) Expressway and then fleeing to Mexico, where he was apprehended, must stand trial for gross vehicular manslaughter and other offenses, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Robert Chico Griffin, 47, of Chino was extradited back to the United States a year ago this month.
Following a preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jerry Yang found there was sufficient evidence to bound Griffin over for trial on the manslaughter count, as well as hit-and-run resulting in death, driving on a suspended license and operating a motor vehicle in violation of a court order, with a sentence- enhancing allegation of fleeing the scene of a crime.
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The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Nov. 1 and ordered the defendant remanded into custody. Griffin had been free on a $150,000 bond, but that was revoked, and sheriff's records indicate that he was booked into the Robert Presley Jail in downtown Riverside early Wednesday afternoon.
He will now be held without bail.
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According to the California Highway Patrol, at about 2:25 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2022, the defendant was going northbound on the 71, just north of the Riverside (91) Freeway in Corona, in a Lexus SC430 when he approached a Dodge Ram pickup just ahead of him.
Officer Javier Navarro alleged that Griffin plowed into the rear of the truck at an unknown speed, causing the driver, whose identity was not released, to lose control and veer off of the highway, where the Dodge overturned.
The pickup's passenger, Danelle Aguirre of Moreno Valley, was fatally injured. The driver suffered unspecified minor injuries, from which he has since recovered.
Navarro alleged Griffin raced away from the crash and fled south of the border, where a joint investigation by the U.S. Marshals and Mexican State Police uncovered his whereabouts, culminating in his apprehension sometime in August 2022.
Details regarding how the CHP identified the defendant as the alleged perpetrator were not provided.
Griffin has no documented prior felony convictions. However, court documents show he has an unresolved case for allegedly being an unlicensed driver of a vehicle in 2021.
