HI MY NAME IS APRIL RICE AND THIS IS MY JOURNEY. I LOST 2 DAUGHTERS ON MARCH 26, 2007. BRIZHEELE RICE 21 AND BRITTANYA RICE 17. I LOST 1 GRANDSON KAMLL OSBY 19mo AND A VERY SWEET AND BEAUTIFUL FAMILY FRIEND SHANICE CARTER 18, WHO WAS ALSO KILLED DUE TO THIS HORRIBLE DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENT. MY HURT AND MY PAIN IS INDESCRIBABLE. THERES NOT A WORD OR PHARSE THAT CAN DISCRIBE MY PAIN. THERE NOT A DISCRIPTION OR DEFINITION THAT COULD DEFINE MY LOSS. THERE IS NOT A MOMENT OF THE DAY THAT I DON’T THINK ABOUT THEM. IN THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT THEY ARE THERE. AT THE RISING OF THE SUN THEY ARE THERE. AT MY GREATEST JOY THEY ARE THERE. AND THEY ARE HERE AT MY DEEPEST PAIN. OH, HOW I LOVE THEM SO. EVEN THOUGH MY PAIN IS GREAT MY STRENGTH WILL HAVE TO BE EVEN GREATER BECAUSE I HAVE A BATTLE TO FIGHT COME JUNE 23, 2008. THIS DRUNK DRIVER IS BEING BROUGHT TO TRAIL AND I NEED YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT. THIS MAN HAS ROBBED ME OF MY FAMILY THAT I LOVE AND THE FUTURE THAT WILL NEVER BE. THIS MURDER HAS RUBBED ELBOWS WITH SOME OF THE RICHES AND MOST POWERFUL MEN IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING THE GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER. BUT WHAT HE FAILS TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT EVEN THOUGH HE IS SURROUNDED BY THOSE WITH POWER, THERE IS NO ONE MORE POWERFUL THEN GOD, THE VICTORY IS MINE. PLEASE JOIN ME ONJUNE 23, 2008 AT 8am (3RD FLOOR) ROOM 19 AT THE SACRAMENTO COURTHOUSE LOCATED AT 720 9TH STREET, FOR THE START OF THE TRAIL OF ROBERTO VELLANOWETH.
THE FACTS SURROUNDING THE CASE
Four Killed In Sacramento drunk driving accident On March 26, 2007 Crash Occurred Along South Land Park Drive POSTED: 4:48 pm PDT March 26, 2007 SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Four people died in a vehicle wreck Monday afternoon in the South Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento, police said. Suspected drunk driving crash on March 26 killed sisters Brizhelle Rice-21 and Brittanya Rice-Nash-17, 19-month-old Kamall Osby-19mo and family friend Shanice Carter-18, police said. Authorities said three adults and a small child were killed in the crash, which took place just after 4 p.m. along South Land Park Drive at Wymore Way. The four people who died were riding in an older two-door car. Police said the car collided with a red Jeep. The child riding in the car died after being taken to a local hospital. One adult was thrown from the car and killed. Two other adults died in the car, officials at the scene said. A fifth person riding in the car survived but was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The driver of the Jeep suffered minor injuries, officials said.
Police said Roberto Vellanoweth's blood alcohol content at the time of the wreck was 0.16 percent, which is double the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Police said Vellanoweth was driving a Jeep that slammed head-on into a car on South Land Park Drive on Monday afternoon. Four of the five people in the car were killed, while the fifth person suffered serious injuries.
Roberto Vellanoweth, 63, is facing four counts of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter, two counts of driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Vellanoweth's bail was set at $250,000.
Roberto Vellanoweth, who was appointed by Gov. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER last year to the state Board of Optometry and has been active in Republican politics, walked out of jail just after 6 a.m.
A biography provided by GOVERNOR'S ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER office states that Vellanoweth has served as president and chief operating officer of VEL-TEK Consulting, a business consulting firm.
He is the former chairman of the Republican Hispanic Assembly of Sacramento. From 1995 to 2001, Vellanoweth served on the Youthful Offender Parole Board. He worked for the Department of Economic Opportunity as assistant director of community relations from 1993 to 1995.
Prior to that, Vellanoweth served the Department of Parks and Recreation as the chief of human resources and the chief of economic and fiscal affairs.
The victim's family said they are convinced that because Vellanowth was a political appointee of Schwarzenegger that the Sacramento County District Attorney is giving him special treatment, perhaps even leniency, because Vellanoweth isn't facing a single charge of murder.
"They treat people different, and they continue to say the law is the same for everybody, but it's not," April Rice, the mother of Brizhelle and Brittanya Rice-Nash, said. "I feel he should get murder. He should be behind bars the rest of his life. It doesn't matter how old he is.