UPDATE: A 75-year-old Fortuna man died after his car went off the Eel River Drive just before 11: 20 a.m. today and hit a tree, according to the CHP. The crash near Copenhagen Road killed driver Steven Laurilliard. No other vehicles were involved. PREVIOUSLY: A fatal car crash occurred around 11:20 a.m. after a silver […]
Eel River Drive
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Kitchen Makes Brief Court Appearance, Being Jailed in Isolation for her Safety
Marci Kitchen — who voluntarily surrendered her bail bond yesterday and was booked into the Humboldt County jail — appeared briefly in court this morning before returning to the jail, where she is being held in isolation for her safety. After Kitchen left the courtroom, Judge Kaleb Cockrum indicated that she is now being held without […]
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Marci Kitchen Pleads Guilty, Sentencing Set
Just weeks before her trial was set to begin, Marci Kitchen stood in front of Judge Kaleb Cockrum today and pleaded guilty to all the charges she was facing for fatally hitting two teenage girls, including her daughter, while driving drunk then fleeing the scene in 2016. Wearing a black and white brocade dress with […]
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Marci Kitchen Expected to Plead Guilty Monday
Judge Kaleb Cockrum today set a Monday hearing at which Marci Kitchen is expected to enter a guilty plea to the full set of charges she is facing for the hit-and-run deaths of two teenage girls, one of whom was her daughter. More than two years have passed since Kitchen allegedly was driving drunk and […]
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UPDATE: Court Document Indicates Kitchen was ‘Extremely Intoxicated’
2nd UPDATE: Marcia “Marci” Kitchen pleaded not guilty to both charges facing her this afternoon and denied all special allegations during a brief arraignment. She’s next scheduled to appear in court Sept. 29, with a hearing set Oct. 6 to determine if there is enough evidence to hold her to stand trial in the case. […]
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CHP to Hand Off Fortuna Hit and Run Case to DA ‘Soon’
Two months after two 14-year-old girls were killed in a single-car hit and run crash in Fortuna, the California Highway Patrol is finalizing its report for the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office to weigh filing criminal charges in the case. Officer Cy May said the preliminary report is finished and currently being reviewed by CHP […]
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Court Doc: Mom is Suspect in Fortuna Hit and Run; Showed Signs of Intoxication
An initial CHP investigation indicated the mother of one of two teenage girls who died after a July 12 hit and run crash was the driver and that she showed signs of intoxication shortly after the collision, according to a search warrant affidavit. “At that point, however, there was no evidence establishing her as the […]
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UPDATE: CHP Seeking Persons of Interest in Fortuna Hit and Run
The California Highway Patrol has released the names of two persons of interest in last week’s fatal hit-and-run. Marcia Maelinda Kitchen, mother of one of the deceased, and Joshua Wren Pearlston, her boyfriend, are both being sought for questioning. Kitchen is the registered owner of the Jeep involved in the collision. The CHP say they […]