A preliminary hearing was set Tuesday for Oct. 11 for a woman who is accused of killing her uncle after she crashed her SUV in Chula Vista while allegedly trying to smuggle undocumented migrants.
Kyleigh Marsay Polite, 30, appeared before Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag, who also reviewed her $2 million bail and did not reduce it despite a request from Polite’s attorney.
Her uncle, Larry Dean Passmore, 54, was in the front passenger seat in the silver 2002 Acura on April 25 after she allegedly picked up three undocumented persons on Alto Road in Otay Mesa shortly before 7 a.m.
U.S. Border Patrol agents attempted to pull her over, but the driver sped off at 85-100 mph on State Route 125. About four minutes after the pursuit began, Polite lost control of the SUV, and it overturned, killing Passmore, who was ejected from the vehicle.
Polite has been charged with murder in her uncle’s death. The medical examiner’s office said Passmore died from blunt force trauma. She has pleaded not guilty.
The three people she picked up were also ejected from the vehicle as they were not wearing seat belts, said Deputy District Attorney Jerry Wendricks. They were hospitalized as was Polite.
The vehicle skidded out of control, overturned, and rolled side over side several times near the Olympic Parkway exit in Chula Vista.
Polite remains in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility.
