A former South Bay man who was placed on probation for hit and run in the 2017 death of an elderly woman faces a probation revocation now that he is charged with murder in a new case.
Manuula Save, now 20, was placed on three years probation in 2017 after pleading guilty to hit and run in the April 30, 2017, death of Aurora Garcia de Become, 80, in Chula Vista.
She was also known as Patricia de Become, and died two days after being struck.
Save backed his brother’s car out of a driveway and struck her in an accident, his attorney wrote. Save claimed a crowd gathered where de Become was injured and he fled after getting nervous about people approaching him, Save’s attorney Shonte Hobson wrote.
Hobson added that Save stayed with the victim until help arrived and he was not under the influence of any substance.
One of the conditions of probation was to remain law abiding, but he was arrested Aug. 17 after Save got into an argument with his brother and he fired a gun into a wall.
The lone bullet went through the wall and killed Michael Walker, 38, who was struck in the abdomen while he was asleep in bed with his wife in their Poway apartment. The shot was in the middle of the night and his wife drove Walker to a hospital, where he died around 2:45 a.m.
Save was arrested and charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
A probation revocation hearing has been set for Oct. 24, but it may just trail the murder case until that case is resolved. Save could get four years on the probation revocation, court records show.
Save was 18 years old when he was sentenced to 161 days in jail which was credit for time served by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney.
Members of the De Become family spoke before sentencing, and the judge ordered Save to have no contact with them while on probation, according to court records.
Save was ordered to complete his senior year in high school and ordered to pay $1,433 for the pre-sentencing investigation. He was fined $1,344 and ordered to pay $570 for the cost of his court appointed attorney. A former football coach from Otay Ranch High School wrote a favorable letter to Devaney about him.
Save has a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 21 on the murder charge. He remains in jail without bail.
