Inset: Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, Matilde Moncado Ramos Pinto, and their 2 children (KGO). Background: The scene of the collision that left the family dead (KGO).
In California, an 80-year-old woman is facing serious legal challenges after a tragic accident that claimed the lives of a family of four. Mary Fong Lau is accused of crashing into the family while they waited at a bus stop. The incident, which may have been caused by a mix-up between the gas and brake pedals, has led to felony charges, but Lau is seeking to have these charges reduced to misdemeanors.
Lau is currently charged with four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. The victims of the crash were 40-year-old Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 38-year-old Matilde Moncado Ramos Pinto, and their two young children, who were tragically killed in the incident.
In a court appearance scheduled for Friday, Lau’s defense attorney plans to request leniency, hoping the court will allow her to plead guilty to misdemeanor offenses. This development was reported by local ABC affiliate KGO.
The devastating crash occurred on March 16, 2024, as the family was waiting at a bus stop near the West Portal Muni station in San Francisco, en route to the zoo. Lau’s Mercedes SUV struck them while reportedly traveling at 65 mph, according to the news station’s report.
Eyewitnesses reported that Lau claimed she had tried to brake but mistakenly pressed the gas pedal instead. This detail was highlighted in court documents, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
During a police interview at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Lau explained she was delivering food to her brother when the vehicle allegedly malfunctioned, causing it to accelerate uncontrollably. She stated that she attempted to brake and shift the car into park, but was unable to slow down.
The victims’ family has been ardently opposed to reduced charges for Lau, with Ramos Pinto’s brother telling KGO that his sister and her family were not the only ones to die that day, saying, “part of us all died.”
“We’re vehemently against them, because no evidence has been provided that would suggest this isn’t gross negligence,” Ramos Pinto told KGO. “I would like to see this person tried and suffer, be held accountable and responsible for her actions.”
Prosecutors with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office have also filed a motion opposing Lau’s request for reduced charges.
The victims’ families have also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lau, which is currently being litigated in civil court. They are represented in the matter by attorney Jim Quadra.
“If the court agrees and drops these charges, she could have acted with gross negligence in taking four lives and have just misdemeanor charges that would look to us and appear to, I think, most people would be looking at this as a basic slap on the wrist for having taken four lives,” Quadra told KGO.
In the wrongful death case, the victims’ family members have accused Lau of concealing her assets to prevent them from being included in any possible settlement or adverse judgment, local Fox affiliate KTVU reported.
