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April 19
1880 - Pico Oil Spring Mine Section 2 patented by R.F. Baker and Edward F. Beale [story]
E.F. Beale


The 23-year-old driver charged with vehicular manslaughter in last year’s “Fourth of July fireworks” collision had been sentenced to anger management classes after being convicted of battery five years ago, court records show.

She also received four traffic citations in a 3-year period including a red-light ticket just seven months prior to the fatal crash, and had been warned by the Department of Motor Vehicles to drive more carefully, officials said.

Melissa Brigitte Brown of Canyon Country was 18 years old on Nov. 17, 2006, when she pleaded no contest at the Santa Clarita Courthouse to one count of battery and one count of disturbing the peace, both misdemeanors, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records.

SCV Traffic Sgt. Richard Cohen said the court placed Brown on 12 months probation, ordering her to pay restitution and attend anger management classes. No details were immediately available Friday about the 2006 incident; the charges were filed Aug. 2 of that year.

Since that time, Brown, now 23, was ticketed for speeding once in 2007 and twice in 2009. On Dec. 12, 2009, she also received a citation for running a red light.

The DMV sent her letters “indicating she needed to slow down,” Cohen said.

Brown is suspected of running a red light on Valencia Boulevard at 9:40 p.m. on July 4, 2010, while thousands of spectators lined Valencia Boulevard as the city of Santa Clarita’s fireworks show was drawing to a close. Officials say Brown collided with another vehicle at the Mall Entrance intersection. The impact caused her white sedan to spin out of control, jump the curb and strike several pedestrians. Numerous spectators captured the incident on their cell-phone cameras.

Matilde Garnica, 43, of Newhall, was pronounced dead at the scene, and some of Garnica’s family members were injured.

District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said it would be up to the individual prosecutor to decide how to handle Brown’s past record in the current proceedings. She said the prosecutor would probably bring up “any information about her driving record that the court allows to be brought into evidence.”

Initially charged in February and released on her own recognizance, Brown pleaded not guilty Wednesday in San Fernando Superior Court to one count of vehicular manslaughter and one count of running a red light. She faces six years in prison if convicted on the charges as filed, according to the District Attorney’s office. She is due back in court Oct. 12.

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SCV NewsBreak
LOCAL NEWS HEADLINES
Friday, Apr 18, 2025
May 10: Placerita Canyon Nature Center Open House
The Placerita Canyon Nature Center invites the community to a free Open House on Saturday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Friday, Apr 18, 2025
April 22: City Council to Hold Public Hearing on Newhall Mixed Use Project
The Santa Clarita City Council will meet in open session on Tuesday, April 22 at City Hall to hold a public hearing regarding a request for a new five-story mixed-use building with 78 housing units and approximately 5,200 square-feet of commercial space to be built on the corner of Main Street, Market Street and Railroad Avenue.
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