A driver accused of hit-and-run in a traffic fatality in Pacific Beach pleaded guilty Oct. 25 to felony hit-and-run that caused a death, and transportation of methamphetamine.
Sentencing was set for Dec. 9 for Taylor Suzanne Johnson, 36, in the death of Richard Edward Henkel, 52, who was struck around 11:35 a.m. on Aug. 4 on the Grand Avenue off-ramp to Interstate 5.
Deputy District Attorney Kelsey Hollander said Johnson faces a maximum sentence of four years and eight months in state prison. Johnson’s vehicle was found damaged outside her residence in Clairemont after the incident.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis allowed Johnson to remain free on $50,000 bond. She pleaded guilty before she was to have faced a preliminary hearing on Oct. 30.
Henkel was a pedestrian when he was struck and was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla where he died. Johnson was driving her white 2016 Honda Civic without stopping to lend assistance or to report the incident.