SAN DIEGO (CNS) - An alleged drunken driver accused of running over and fatally injuring a co-worker, who was trying to prevent her from driving home following a night out in Kearny Mesa, was charged Tuesday with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run causing death.
Latisha Ingram, 33, is accused in the death last Thursday night of 25- year-old Ha Minh Ta.
Deputy District Attorney Phillippa Cunningham said Ingram was charged with second-degree murder because she has a 2010 DUI conviction in Orange County.
According to the prosecutor, Ingram and Ta met up with other co-workers for after-dinner drinks and the defendant, ``against the advice of friends,'' decided to try and drive home.
RELATED: San Diego police: Man run over, killed after argument in Kearny Mesa parking lot
Ingram got into an argument with Ta about 11:30 p.m. in a parking lot in the 4600 block of Convoy Street, and she allegedly started to drive away while he was still holding onto her car. Ingram drove out of the parking lot and turned southbound onto Convoy Street, where Ta let go and was run over by the defendant, San Diego police Officer Robert Heimsthe officer alleged.
Paramedics rushed Ta to a hospital, where he died from his injuries. Ingram was arrested a short time later.
Laboratory tests are pending to determine her blood-alcohol content at the time of her arrest, Cunningham said.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Jay Bloom set bail at $2.5 million for Ingram, who pleaded not guilty to the charges and s set to return to court July 15 for a readiness conference.
