Irvine hit-run crash: 20-year-old driver charged with murder

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Murder charges were filed Tuesday against a hit-and-run driver accused of killing 54-year-old Katherine Hampton and her 2-year-old granddaughter, Kaydence Hampton, in Irvine earlier this month.

Alec Scott Abraham, 20, of Costa Mesa is accused of running a red light and slamming his Ford Mustang into two cars, killing two and injuring three others. His defense attorney, Gary Pohlson, said Abraham fled the scene out of panic.

"My client saw the family. The grandmother appeared to be dead and he just panicked and he went away and he called his parents," Pohlson said.

Prosecutors allege Abraham was street racing and that he knew exactly what he was doing when he fled the scene near Alton and Barranca parkways on June 10.

"He approached the car of the victims, looked inside and then made the decision to flee," prosecutor Stephen Cornwell said.

The defense says Abraham's father picked him up a couple blocks away from the scene. He was arrested the next day at a Costa Mesa park.

Abraham was initially charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, hit-and-run causing death, reckless driving with bodily injury and a misdemeanor count of petty theft. On Tuesday, those charges were replaced with two murder counts.

"After further investigation by the Irvine Police Department and the Orange County District Attorney's Office, newly discovered scientific evidence and witness information allowed OCDA to pursue murder charges against the defendant," OCDA officials said in a statement.

Pohlson says he's shocked the OCDA is now pursuing murder charges, not vehicular manslaughter charges, against his extremely remorseful client.

"Every time I talk to him, he spends the whole time crying, and actually has apologized, wants me to apologize to the family," Pohlson said.

Court records show Abraham has been charged four times since last year with various driving infractions, including driving at an "unsafe speed for prevailing conditions."

"He's posing a threat to human life, a serious threat to human life, and he's choosing to act that way nonetheless," Cornwell said.

If convicted on the two murder charges, Abraham faces a maximum sentence of 30 years to life in state prison. He's being held on $1 million bail and is due back in court on July 8.

The other car believed to be involved in the possible street race, which has not been found, was described as a dark-colored coupe or sedan, possibly another Ford Mustang.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Jonathan Cherney at (949) 724-7024.