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SALT LAKE CITY — A woman wanted for allegedly causing a fatal crash in West Valley City in February was arrested Friday by U.S. Marshals.
Cristal Erica Garcia, 30, of Salt Lake City, was arrested by U.S. Marshals and Salt Lake City police near Navajo Street and Indiana Avenue on Friday afternoon, according to a tweet from Salt Lake City police and confirmed by West Valley police. Details of the arrest were not immediately available.
Garcia was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident involving death, for a crash she allegedly caused on Feb. 23.
On that day, Carol Kay "Butterflii" Galentine, 26, was hit and killed at the intersection of 3600 West and Parkway Boulevard (2700 South) when a Toyota Tundra ran a red light and smashed into her and another car, according to police.
Originally, Jair Ivan Bautista, 28, of Kearns, was arrested for investigation of automobile homicide. But questions were soon raised about whether Bautista or the woman he was with, Garcia, was behind the wheel when the crash occurred.
Bautista was charged in 3rd District Court with assault on a police officer, failing to stop at the command of police and intoxication, but nothing in connection with Galentine's death or any driving-related crime.
After collecting forensic evidence from the Tundra, including DNA from the driver's side airbag and a "well-preserved handprint from inside the windshield above the steering wheel," Garcia was determined to be the driver, her charges state.
