Thread: Huge bail for suspect in hit & run

Last modified: Monday, January 28, 2008 11:56 PM EST
A tearful Milena Henao in Suffolk Superior Court Monday. ITEM PHOTO / DAVID LISCIO
Huge bail for suspect in hit & run

By David Liscio / The Daily Item

BOSTON - After living on the run for more than a year, justice caught up Monday with Milena Henao, an illegal alien from Colombia and mother of two, charged with a fatal hit-and-run in Revere.

Suffolk Superior Court Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson ordered Henao, 27, held on $2.5 million surety or $250,000 cash bail following her arraignment.

Henao stands accused of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, stemming from the Dec. 31, 2006 death of George Azarian, 61, of Revere.

Azarian was crossing Ocean Avenue on foot when Henao's car, headed toward Winthrop, slammed into him. Henao didn't stop to help. The victim, who was physically disabled, was left to die alone in the road. Although there were no eyewitnesses, the incident was captured on a video surveillance tape that investigators used to track down the owner of the vehicle. The camera, located at the intersection of Ocean and Shirley avenues, was installed and maintained by the city of Revere.

Henao has admitted to authorities that she was driving the car that struck Azarian, and that in panic she fled to New York City, according to Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney John E. Powers III.

Powers said Massachusetts State Police were able to determine from the videotape that the car was a silver/gray Dodge Intrepid manufactured between 1998 and 2004. Through the Motor Vehicle Registry, the investigators obtained a list of Dodge Intrepid owners in Winthrop, Chelsea and Revere.

The probe eventually led to 20 Ocean Avenue in Winthrop, home of Luz Ospina, who was the registered owner of a 2000 silver Dodge Intrepid. The car, however, was not at the address.

Ospina's daughter, 23-year-old Julia Carolina Ospina, told police it was at an East Boston body shop getting its speedometer repaired. During this conversation, both Henao and a second roommate of the younger Ospina were present.

When State Police arrived at the body shop later that day, they were told an unknown woman had retrieved the vehicle a few hours earlier. The garage owner said the car had been brought in for repair on Feb. 1, 2007, by two Colombian women, one known as Carolina.

The body shop owner told police the front windshield was missing, with broken pieces of glass at the edge of the frame. The front right headlight was smashed and the hood dented, also on the right side.

Police learned that the car had been repaired and that the damaged parts were still in the dumpster. Forensic evidence matched the discarded parts to the car in question.

Investigators returned to the Ospina residence, where Julia Ospina's father, Alcibar Ospina, "confirmed the car was registered to his wife, Luz, but was used by his daughter's friend, Milena," Powers said.

Further, Luz Ospina said she registered the car for Henao to save her the cost of insurance. The couple told police their daughter, Henao and a third woman shared an apartment at 91 Veteran's Road in Winthrop.

The case began to solidify as investigators pieced together various bits of circumstantial evidence. For example, on the same day of the hit-and-run, Julia Ospina had been forced to take a cab to work the noon waitress shift at a Revere restaurant because Henao did not show up to give her a ride as promised. Henao was scheduled to work as a bartender at a Salem restaurant that same day and evening, but did not arrive.

When later asked by her boss for an explanation, Henao indicated she had been in an automobile accident, Powers said.

A few days later, Julia Ospina again asked Henao for a ride to work. Henao said a jealous girlfriend had damaged her car, Ospina made arrangements to have it repaired in East Boston. Questioned by police, Ospina said she had no knowledge of the hit-and-run until police knocked on the door to her mother's home.

On Feb. 7, the three roommates went to East Boston to retrieve the car. Henao was visibly nervous, Powers said. Confronted about the damage, Henao told her friends she had been involved in a bad accident. Henao entered the body shop alone while the others waited across the street. "The defendant never returned," said the prosecutor, noting that Henao was last seen in the Boston area in June 2007.

On June 28, a Suffolk County grand jury indicted Henao and issued a warrant for her arrest. Henao was apprehended in New York City on Jan. 18.

"It came to the NYPD's attention that she was living in their jurisdiction," said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney's office. "She didn't turn herself in."

Defense lawyer Jeffrey A. Denner said Henao, who speaks Spanish, was married shortly before the tragic event occurred, and that the couple has two children, ages 10 and 12, living in Colombia.

"She isn't an evil person. She did something bad, but it was an accident. She panicked. She has no criminal record of any kind," said Denner, noting that Henao's husband lives in Queens, N.Y. and is pursuing a degree with hopes of obtaining an immigration green card.

"If this hadn't happened, she would have gotten her green card, stayed here and saved enough money to bring her children here," the attorney said.

Relatives and friends of Azarian attended the arraignment but declined comment.

Henao is scheduled to return to court on March 11 for a pre-trial conference, followed by a pre-trial hearing on June 24.


http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/artic ... news01.txt

An immigration hold should have been placed on her which would prevent her from bailing out even on the outside chance she could come up with the 10% needed to bail out.

This is what needs to be done. Was it?