Trial Begins for Woman Accused of Hitting and Killing Two UM Students

The trial of Milady Pequeno, accused of killing two University of Miami students in a car crash last October, got underway Tuesday with a detective saying there were no skid marks left on the road to show Pequeno tried to put on the brakes before she allegedly hit Chen Ying and Liu Hao.

Ying and Hao were hit and killed on Kendall Drive and 68th Court. Prosecutors say Pequeno was driving her Porsche and was distracted by her conversation with her mother, when she hit and killed the two students.

The accident happened right in front of their apartment complex on Wednesday, Oct. 16. After making it across five lanes, they were hit feet away from the curb. Ying and Hao died right away. Pequeno stopped a block after the accident.

Pequeno’s attorney said Monday there’s no evidence to prove she was driving at the time of the accident and if she was, detectives reported that she simply didn’t take evasive action to avoid the pedestrians.

“Anything that may have contributed to her being careless?” defense attorney Angel Ruiz asked
“Well, one was her driving patter, after the impact she travelled over 325 feet, that’s almost a football field in distance,” said Detective George Wilhelm.

If Pequeno is convicted of two counts of careless driving, she’ll face possible fines and possibly five points on her license. Prosecutors said they didn’t have enough evidence for higher charges.

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