Woman convicted in crash that killed man who was pushing granddaughter in stroller
Galina Kilova took the witness stand in her own defense Wednesday, but it didn't stop a jury from convicting her in a hit-and-run crash that killed a man while he was pushing his granddaughter in a stroller.
After deliberating roughly 15 minutes, the Clark County jury found Kilova, 29, guilty of one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident.
Prosecutors didn't even bother to cross-examine Kilova after her testimony.
District Judge Jennifer Togliatti set a Dec. 22 sentencing date. Kilova faces up to 15 years in prison, but her lawyers can also argue for probation.
Michael Grubbs, 63, was struck and killed by Kilova's Honda Civic as she veered off the right side of the road along Rainbow Boulevard near the intersection of Warm Springs Road the morning of Nov. 24, 2014, her birthday, prosecutors alleged. The impact crushed his skull.
Kilova left the scene, but turned herself in to police a week later.
"Can there be any doubt that this case has been proved?" Chief Deputy District Attorney Brian Rutledge told the jury. "She fled. She committed the crime."
His co-prosecutor, Chief Deputy District Attorney Eric Bauman, said Kilova's story that she didn't know she struck Grubbs was simply not believable and contrary to the testimony of eyewitnesses.
"They saw her run down Michael Grubbs. They all saw it. They all saw it," Bauman argued. "Everyone who was there saw it with their own eyes."
Kilova, who came to the United States from Bulgaria in 2006, testified that she didn't notice hitting Gubbs because she was afraid and distracted by an an angry driver following her in a Lexus.
She said she went to work that day and saw damage to the right side of her car, but didn't start believing she had anything to do with the crash until she saw a news report of Grubbs' death later that day.
Eventually, Kilova said, she called her lawyer and made arrangements to surrender.
Defense lawyer Martin Hart asked the jury to base its verdict on the facts surrounding the charge of leaving the scene of an accident — not on sympathy over the death of Grubbs.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow him: @JGermanRJ
