Posts tagged "Tiffany St. Ives"

Marlene Resendiz was 17-years-old, engaged to be married and, according to her mother, dreamed of becoming a doctor. In late 2007, Marlene was struck and killed in a fatal car accident as she sprinted across East Grand Avenue in Econdido.

The car Tiffany St. Ives was driving carried Marlene 300 feet, the length of a football field, before St. Ives stopped to let her slide off the hood. Once Marlene's broken body had disappeared from the windshield, St. Ives sped off, leaving the teenager to die in the road.

From that day, until the day she was arrested, St. Ives did everything she could to destroy evidence of the hit-and-run. She had the car repainted, fixed and attempted to find someone who would get rid of it for her in Mexico. The man she approached for this eventually turned her in.

St. Ives was semi-famous in the San Diego area for her animal rescue farm, Purple Cow & Friends. Many who attended the trial could not understand how someone who cared so much for animals could show such disregard for human life.

A $75 million wrongful death lawsuit was filed earlier this month against Tiffany St. Ives in San Diego County court. St. Ives was arrested in February for her role in a fatal hit-and-run accident that killed Marlene Resendiz back in 2007.

Resendiz was struck as she crossed a street in Escondido - just weeks before she was to be married. Immediately following the accident, St. Ives continued driving, carrying Resendiz for nearly 200 yards before slowing down enough for Resendiz to slide off the car. She then sped away.

St. Ives is known throughout San Diego for her animal sanctuary, The Purple Cow, which is a registered corporation. The attorney representing Resendiz's family believes that St. Ives may have been on the job at the time of the accident, bringing into play any insurance the sanctuary may have. St. Ive's is also believed to have substantial assets.

The family of a hit and run victim in Escondido are hoping for closure in a case that has stretched out for over two years.

In late 2007, Marlene Resendiz was crossing a street in Escondido when she was struck by a driver, and thrown onto the car's hood. The driver continued for several hundred yards, then slowed down to allow Resendiz to fall off the hood, and sped away.

Resendiz did not survive the accident.

On Tuesday, Tiffany St. Ives, a local animal activist, was arrested after a witness linked her to the hit and run, claiming St. Ives had asked him to repair her damaged car and, later, take it to Mexico and sell it. It's not known why the man, who was not identified, waited so long to come forward.