TUCSON, AZ — The lawyer for the man who had been charged with aggravated assault in the death of 22-year-old Zahriya Moreno says his client is innocent and should not be re-charged in the case.
On Tuesday, the Pima County Attorney dropped charges against Angel Olivas but said it was to allow more investigating that could lead to renewed charges.
Chris Scileppi, the attorney for the man who had been charged with aggravated assault in the death of Moreno, says his client is innocent but the community has already decided he’s guilty. He says there’s more to this case than the public knows and that part will keep the charges against Olivas from coming back.
Moreno was taken off life support and became an organ donor after an incident with her boyfriend, Olivas.
He said they argued, he drove off, she jumped on the trunk of his car, and fell off.
Investigators say Olivas told them he drove off slowly at maybe 10 or 15 miles per hour.
Instead of calling 911, he took her to a fire station for treatment.
At the fire station, firefighters told investigators injuries on the young woman did not have the dirt and asphalt they’d expect when someone has fallen on a road.
Now the Pima County Attorney’s Office has dropped the aggravated assault charges against Oilvas saying it wants to allow time for more investigation.
The information we have is from sheriff’s reports that include deputies’ accounts of what Olivas told them but Olivas' attorney says his client has told him more than the reports hold, but he is not at liberty to disclose details now.
“And I will not violate client confidentiality either. That being said, we feel we have a clear picture of what happened that night because Mr. Olivas is the only other person who is living right now.”
Sheriff’s Detectives have been looking to electronic witnesses. They have pulled electronics from Olivas' car that may have recorded how the car was driven that night, including whether Olivas accelerated suddenly or hit the brakes hard.
There are also medical details of Moreno’s injuries that have been blotted out in publicly available reports.
But Scileppi says the County Attorney’s decision to drop the aggravated assault charge shows prosecutors knew they had a weak case they needed to make stronger and he contends they never will.
