LONG BEACH, Calif. – A man was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder and other charges for fleeing in a stolen van from police and striking an SUV, killing a local dog walker and five of the six canines she was transporting.
Along with the murder charge, Javier Olivarez Jr. was found guilty of six counts of animal cruelty and one count each of evading a police officer causing death and driving or taking a vehicle without consent.
The case against Olivarez, now 47, stemmed from the May 7, 2019, death of Jessica Bingaman, whose black Ford Escape was struck at the intersection of Third Street and Temple Avenue.
Bingaman, a 41-year-old single mother from Long Beach who operated a local dog walking and dog training business, died from blunt torso trauma that day at a local hospital.
Four of the dogs in the vehicle with her — Indy, Toots, Scout and Maggie Moo — died at the scene, with a fifth, Sasha, dying after being rushed to a local pet hospital, and the sixth dog, Bella, was seriously injured, but survived, Deputy District Attorney Karen Brako told the Long Beach jury.
Police said shortly after the crash that the woman was driving northbound in a black 2013 Ford Escape on Temple Avenue after stopping at a stop sign on Third Street when her compact crossover SUV was struck by the van, which was heading eastbound on Third Street and failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection. Four other vehicles that were parked along the street were also struck.
Data from the van’s black box showed that the stolen van was traveling at 71 mph just five seconds before the crash and then at 68 mph one second before the collision in an area with a 25 mph speed limit, and a blood test subsequently performed on Olivarez confirmed the presence of methamphetamine and amphetamine in his blood, according to the prosecutor.
Olivarez’s attorney, Efren Navar, told jurors in his opening statement that what happened was a “tragic accident” that led to the deaths of the woman and five of the dogs in her care.
Navar said jurors would have to determine whether what happened was a murder, adding that he would be asking them to acquit his client of the murder charge.
Teri Lyn Miller, who lives near the scene of the collision, testified last week that she heard sirens and then saw a “white blur” that went by “so fast” before hearing the crash.
“It was just horrific, very loud, the metal, the impact, very loud,” she said. “I said, ‘I can’t imagine, you know, anybody surviving what I heard. It was so horrific.”‘
Two other people who were near the scene of the crash, including one who described hearing what she said sounded like an explosion, said they didn’t remember hearing sirens before the collision.
Olivarez — who was arrested the day of the crash — has remained behind bars since then.
He was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence involving Bingaman’s death, with the murder charge subsequently replacing that count.
Olivarez is due back in a Long Beach courtroom for sentencing June 21.
Bingaman, who was survived by her then-10-year-old daughter, was a familiar sight in the community, where she walked dogs — sometimes about a half-dozen at a time — for clients. More than 100 people turned out for a candlelight vigil in her honor the day after she was killed.
