SAN DIEGO – A judge on Tuesday, Sept. 23, ordered an alleged drunk driver to stand trial on two felony charges involving a collision with a 5-year-old girl at Liberty Station.
The girl still remains in a coma, a witness testified.
The incident took place on Sept. 6, when Savannah Monique Taylor, 21, allegedly collided with the girl, who was on a scooter in a pedestrian path, while Taylor was driving a BMW in Point Loma near the USS Recruit.
San Diego Police Detective Justin Beal testified Tuesday the girl remains in a medically induced coma and doctors told him it was unknown how long her condition will remain like that.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Joan Weber asked Beal about the girl’s survival. Beal’s response: “While things are looking better, now she is looking stable, she is being kept alive by machinery.”
Weber asked Beal if doctors know when the girl will wake up from the coma. “They have no estimation at this point,” said Beal, who added that initially the coma was induced to help her heal while she was in pain. Doctors told him they will slowly wean her off drugs that keep her in a coma.
Beal testified the girl’s doctor said she had “a long list of injuries” including a brain bleed and a liver laceration. He said a major injury occurred “at the brain stem” and she was unresponsive afterwards.
Another police officer, Jason Costanza, testified at the preliminary hearing and said the woman’s vehicle drove onto a pedestrian path and struck a cast iron park bench and did extensive damages to the landscaping. “It came to rest in the tree,” said Costanza.
Officers found a half-empty bottle of cognac in the car and took photos of it, said Costanza.
The attorneys submitted the case to Weber without making any argument or comments. After Weber ordered her to stand trial, Taylor pleaded not guilty to the two felony drunk driving charges.
A trial date of Feb. 10, 2026 was set. She waived her right to have a speedy trial.
Taylor remains in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility without bail. A previous judge refused to set any bail for Taylor after a prosecutor said she had prior alcohol-related cases, including one that involved physical injuries to a family member.
