Car thief admits to hitting and killing 73-year-old Pasco woman crossing the street
A 36-year-old man is facing a decade in prison for hit and run that killed a 73-year-old woman in Pasco last fall.
Julius E. D. Pulliam pleaded guilty on Tuesday to five crimes all linked to hitting Maria Larios Torres and her 67-year-old husband, Jesus Vargas-Orozco as they were walking home from the SuperMex grocery store.
Pulliam, who was wearing a court ordered GPS tracking device, then drove away from the scene.
He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, fatal hit-and-run, possession of a stolen vehicle and witness tampering.
While normally people would face a range of dates, Pulliam’s sentence range can only be 10 years. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 17.
Prosecutors plan to ask for the 10-year sentence at the hearing.
It’s unclear how this will impact the previous outstanding case against Pulliam for attempting to elude Pasco police, possession of a stolen vehicle, and illegally possessing a firearm.
He was wearing a GPS monitor after being released on those charges when he killed Larios Torres. That information combined with security camera footage and GPS data helped lead police to his arrest.
He had previously been convicted of fleeing the scene of an injury collision in Oklahoma in 2019, according to court records.
And he only recently moved to Washington after meeting his wife online and marrying her in 2022.
Deadly Pasco crash
Larios Torres and Vargas-Orozco were crossing 20th Avenue on their way home from a grocery trip to the SuperMex El Pueblo Market about 7 p.m. on Nov. 22 when they were hit.
Security video showed a maroon two-door Honda hit them and speed away. They were rushed to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, but doctors weren’t able to save Larios Torres.
Her husband survived his injuries.
The two had lived in Pasco for their entire lives and were field workers, according to a GoFundMe campaign that was organized to help with funeral expenses.
The morning after police found the empty sedan parked in the backyard of a vacant home in the 400 block of 22nd Avenue. The car had been reported stolen the day before the crash.
A tip identified the driver as “Awax,” which is Pulliam’s street name, according to court documents. The tipster told police that Pulliam admitted to hitting the couple. The witness claimed Pulliam was the only person in the car.
Security camera footage from a grocery store in the hours before the crash showed Pulliam arriving in the Honda.
GPS ankle monitor
Pulliam was wearing a GPS ankle monitor as a condition of being released from jail in June on previous charges.
In that case, he was allegedly driving a Honda stolen from Richland when an officer tried to stop him, according to court documents. He sped off at 60 mph down Lewis Street.
The officer didn’t follow, but later spotted Pulliam as he was walking on A Street.
The GPS data reportedly shows he was at the scene of the Nov. 22 hit and run, as well as being near where the stolen car was abandoned, say investigators.
When police tracked down Pulliam about a week after the fatal crash, they discovered he had taken off the monitor minutes before his arrest.
This story was originally published August 1, 2023 at 12:53 PM.