The girlfriend of a man accused of hitting and killing a 7-year-old girl in a hit-and-run crash in New Jersey Monday morning tried to cover up the alleged crime by telling authorities her SUV had been stolen, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecutors said that Johana Rosas-Alvarez of Newark told officials her Chevrolet Tahoe that was seen in surveillance videos plowing down Sheyla Pichardo as she walked to school with her mother had been boosted in an effort to protect her boyfriend, Fabian Calles.
Rosas-Alvarez and Calles both entered not guilty pleas on charges in connection with the fatal incident that also severely injured Pichardo's mother at Van Buren Place and 61st Street in West New York.
Calles, who is charged with multiple crimes including leaving the scene of a fatal accident, is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail, while Rosas-Alvarez, charged with filing a false report, was set to be released Wednesday night on $7,500 bail.
Rosas-Alvarez's attorney said that he was"heartbroken" by the fatality and noted he had a 7-year-old child.
Calles' attorney said "her life is shattered."
Surveillance footage from the scene shows the SUV hit the mother and daughter while they crossed a street. The driver gets out of the vehicle, looks at the girl and mother, then gets back in the vehicle and speeds off.
The girl was taken to Palisades Medical Center after the impact, authorities said. She was pronounced dead sometime afterward. The girl's mother was also taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
