By Khalida Sarwari
San Jose police today recovered the purple Honda Civic belonging to 19-year-old Jennifer Bautista, charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of a San Jose woman last month.
The vehicle was found at an unidentified location in the Bay Area, police spokesman Jermaine Thomas said. Bautista’s parents, Wilmar and Elizabeth Bautista, ages 44 and 41, are being sought for aiding and abetting the suspect and a warrant was issued Monday for their arrests. They remained at large today.
Jennifer Bautista, of Sunnyvale, faces one count of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in connection with the death of ex-girlfriend 20-year-old Norma Leticia Martinez on Dec. 28.
Officers that morning found Martinez injured and bleeding in front of Our Lady Star of the Sea church at 1385 Michigan Ave. She had been run \over by a vehicle, according to police, and died hours later at Regional Medical Center.
Bautista is expected to enter a plea on Feb. 1.
She remains at the San Jose Main jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
The district attorney’s office has also charged Bautista with one felony count of hit-and-run and one misdemeanor count of driving while unlicensed. If convicted on all charges, Bautista faces a possible maximum sentence of seven years in prison.