A woman who ran over and killed a man in her car before reversing, driving around him and fleeing the scene has been sentenced to 18 months jail, after a Perth court heard she had attended a wedding on the same day as the hit-and-run.
Analiza Sagang Curtis appeared in WA District Court for sentencing on Friday, charged with being a driver who failed to stop and ensure assistance received after incident occasioning death over the hit-and-run death of Jamie Murray last year.
Murray’s family and friends wore Justice For Jamie shirts at the court hearing, and cried as the facts of the case were read.
The court heard Murray was on a Dudley Park street when Curtis, who was driving her husband to work in the early hours of the morning, ran him over.
Curtis’s defence lawyer Peter Buenaventura told the court she thought she had hit a “bag of rubbish” and dragged him about 90 metres before hearing odd noises, reversing, and dislodging the 45-year-old from the underside of the car.
The court heard it was at this time she realised she had hit a man, but instead of stopping to help, she drove around him and took off home.
About 10 minutes later, a delivery driver found Murray motionless on the roadway with significant head and arm injuries and called emergency services.
He was declared dead at the hospital.
The court heard Curtis still went ahead and dropped her husband at work, before attending a wedding later in the afternoon.
Curtis later found out Murray had died when her partner sent her a screenshot of a news article about the fatal hit-and-run.
She still did not notify the police or attend a police station, and it was only when officers matched the debris from the crash to her car that she was arrested.
Curtis originally lied to police and told them her husband had been driving – an agreement the couple had made together.
However on further investigation police charged her over Murray’s death.
Buenaventura told the court Curtis had been consumed with “pure terror” when she realised what she had done, and said her choosing to leave the scene was a “devastating choice” that was entirely out of character.
Curtis, who is a Philipino national and heavily pregnant, cried in the dock as the facts were read out. Buenaventura tried to argue her pregnancy could be a mitigating factor in her sentencing, but District Court Judge Laura Christian said it was clear she had become pregnant after she had been charged over the hit-and-run.
She said she did not want to provide incentive for women to get pregnant before sentencing in order to lessen their punishment.
Buenaventura also signalled Curtis wished to deliver a statement to Murray’s family and friends in the courtroom, but the state said they did not wish to hear what she had to say.
District Court Judge Laura Christian said it was her belief Curtis had been fully aware she had hit a person when she chose to drive away from the scene.
Christian said while she accepted Curtis was genuinely remorseful, her actions had been callous and it was clear she had “tried to avoid responsibility”.
She sentenced her to 18 months jail. Curtis will be eligible for parole after nine months, and she has been disqualified from driving for two years.
Murray’s family gasped when the sentence was handed down.
