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The Today File

Your guide to the latest news from around the Northwest

December 6, 2012 at 11:58 AM

Chinese student pleads not guilty in fatal Des Moines crash

Yichun Xu, a 19-year-old community college student from China, entered not guilty pleas this morning to six charges, including vehicular homicide, for a Nov. 10 crash in Des Moines that led to the death of a 25-year-old woman days later at Harborview Medical Center.

Xu did not speak during his arraignment before King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Roberts denied a request from Xu’s defense attorney, Scott Leist, who didn’t want his client photographed by the news media.

Xu is also charged with three counts of vehicular assault and two counts of reckless endangerment, accused of driving through a residential neighborhood at freeway speeds, running a stop sign and slamming his newly-purchased Mercedes-Benz into a BMW driven by Brenda Gomez-Zapata, who was declared brain dead on Nov. 19, according to King County prosecutors.

Also injured were three of Gomez-Zapata’s young family members, who she had been driving to a birthday party, court records say.

Members of Gomez-Zapata’s family, including her mother and fiancé, were in the gallery for Xu’s court appearance. He remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.

Comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Traffic accident, vehicular assault

About The Today File

The Today File is a general news blog featuring real-time coverage of Seattle and the Northwest. It is reported by the news staff of The Seattle Times and edited by Assistant Metro Editor Nick Provenza.

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