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An Oregon woman and her husband reportedly went to such extreme lengths not to get caught after she hit a 67-year-old man with her station wagon, that she was willing to leave the victim to die by himself on the street. Isabel McDaniel, 30, allegedly confessed to police that she and her 24-year-old husband, Gary, took great pains to cover up killing Daniel Ortiz-Reynaga with their Honda civic station wagon, even though their actions left the victim's heartbroken son -- who was also injured in the accident -- wondering and worrying about the whereabouts of his father.
McDaniel reportedly said that she hit Ortiz-Reynaga, who is from Mexico, at around 6 p.m. on Dec. 11 and that he flipped onto her station wagon. Witnesses actually say the man landed on the roof of her car. McDaniel didn't even stop her vehicle, according to police, and instead drove 11 more blocks before she finally pulled over, actually peeled the man's body off of her roof, and sped off.
The victim's son, Julio Ortiz, says he saw his father's hat in the road but was unable to locate him for some time. The man died later that day at a local hospital.
Faced with the decision of whether to turn herself in or recruit her husband to help her get away with this, McDaniel chose the wrong path. She reportedly met up with her husband, who hid their station wagon near his workplace and drove her home in a different vehicle. He then reportedly transported the Honda back to their home using a trailer and tried to rinse the victim's blood off of it using a hose.
Both McDaniel and her husband reportedly confessed to cops after they were arrested at their home two days later. McDaniel pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter, intoxicated driving, evidence tampering and failure to perform the duties of a driver.
They say how we respond in a crisis says a lot about us. Even if this woman panicked during the first few hours after she hit the victim, her conscience should have made her turn herself in. The fact that she and her husband had to be tracked down and held accountable for this makes me question whether she would have ever done the right thing and confessed on her own.
What do you think about this couple's actions? What is an appropriate consequence for this crime?
Image via Lane County Sheriff's Office
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