Homeless pedestrian dies; Santa Ana man charged with vehicular manslaughter, hit and run

The pedestrian who was struck in Santa Ana by a reported hit-and-run driver Wednesday has died, the Santa Ana Police Department said Friday, April 26.

Police identified the person as Leticia Marquez, 40, a homeless woman. The news release did not say when she died. Marquez’s information was not listed on the Orange County Coroner’s Office website Friday.

The driver, Albert Solano Diaz, a 38-year-old warehouse worker from Santa Ana, was being held without bail at Orange County Central Men’s Jail, records show.

Diaz has been charged with felony hit and run, misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence and misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol. Diaz was scheduled to enter a plea Friday, but the arraignment was postponed to May 17.

Just after midnight Wednesday, an officer driving south on Standard Avenue came across a woman lying in the road just north of Edinger Avenue, police said. She was unconscious and not breathing.

Officers found an empty car with major front-end damage nearby and spotted a man walking away. That man, identified as Diaz, was arrested, police said.