A suspected drunken driver accused of causing a pregnant woman’s death during a Mother’s Day 2017 crash in Ramona was ruled competent to stand trial Friday on charges that include murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Andrew Milonis, 46, is accused in the May 14, 2017, deaths of 29-year-old Jessica Foderingham and her unborn child.
Foderingham, who was driving to her grandmother’s house in a separate car behind her husband, was eight months pregnant.
The victim’s husband, U.S. Marine Christian Foderingham, testified during a 2017 preliminary hearing that he heard a loud bang behind him, saw an SUV swerve onto a sidewalk and witnessed his wife’s 2016 Dodge Dart slam into a tree in the center median on San Vincente Road at about 6:45 p.m.
The driver of the SUV, later identified as Milonis, fled following the collision, then abandoned his vehicle about a mile away and called for a Lyft driver to give him a ride to a bar on Main Street, said CHP public affairs Officer Kevin Pearlstein.
Deputies found him at the tavern about an hour later and arrested him.
According to testimony, Milonis was arrested for DUI six months before the fatal accident when he allegedly drove drunk and hit a neighbor’s fence before going home.
Criminal proceedings have been suspended since late 2017, with Milonis undergoing treatment at Patton State Hospital during some of that time.
The defendant faces 40 years to life in prison if convicted.
He is scheduled to return to court April 18 for a Superior Court arraignment.
— City News Service
