Sentinel staff report–
More than $70,000 has now been raised as online donations continue to stream in to support a 27- year-old woman who was hit and sent through the windshield of a suspected DUI driver’s vehicle while she was skateboarding on Auburn Boulevard last month.
Original story: Citrus Heights Police: DUI suspect hit skateboarder, drove off with her inside
In an update on Friday, the woman’s mother, Cristie Cass, told The Sentinel her daughter, Kelly, is still hospitalized and has undergone seven surgeries since the collision occurred on Dec. 27, 2018. Although suffering shattered legs, a broken arm, and a fractured neck, she said doctors believe “she may be able to bear weight on her legs in about three months.”
“Walking is a separate issue and will depend on whether she has enough muscle tissue left to accomplish that task,” Cass further explained. “We are hopeful that with the help of leg braces, she will be able to walk again one day.”
Despite the circumstances and hearing from a surgeon on Friday that an infection appears to be developing in one of her legs, Cass said her daughter’s outlook is “still positive, and we all realize that there are many things to be grateful for, so we ask for continued prayer.”
The family has called it miraculous that Kelly Cass’s brain and internal organs were not damaged in the collision.
In a Jan. 8 interview with KOLO-Reno, the Cass family’s hometown news station, Kelly Cass was described as a stellar high school athlete, an avid runner and a graduate of the University of Nevada. According to the Reno Journal Gazette, she later moved to San Diego and had recently moved to the Sacramento area to start a job in Citrus Heights just two weeks before the accident.
The victim’s sister, Kayla Dowty, said in an update last week that “the most inspiring thing about Kelly’s story is her positive attitude.”
“Truly, there have been very few moments since the accident when she has allowed herself to get down,” wrote Dowty on the family’s GoFundMe page. “She is a ray of sunshine to everyone that walks into her hospital room when it should be the other way around. I am so unbelievably proud of her.”
Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Shelly Orio told The Sentinel on Friday that a Jan. 16 hearing for the suspected driver in the incident, Angel Diego Huerta, was continued to Feb. 27. He has not yet entered a plea and is being held on $1 million bail.
Court records indicate Huerta’s hearing next month will include a bail review, where a request could be considered to lower his bail.
Charges against him include felony DUI, felony hit-and-run and violation of parole. He is also charged with driving with a suspended or revoked license due to a prior DUI, and operating a vehicle not equipped with an interlock device.
As previously reported, Citrus Heights police said the collision occurred around 5:40 p.m. on Dec. 27 on Auburn Boulevard, near Charwood Lane. Huerta is accused of hitting the skateboarder with his vehicle, sending her through his windshield, and then driving off with her still inside.
Police said he then drove about two miles away to the 6900 block of Mariposa Avenue, where he fled the vehicle and was later located after a search of the area was conducted.
Donations made to Cass’ fundraiser will go towards her recovery, according to a statement on the family’s GoFundMe page.
