Ex-CHP officer, DUI driver plead not guilty to murder charges in 605 Freeway crash that left four dead last year
A former California Highway Patrol officer and an alleged DUI driver both pleaded not guilty on Monday to murder charges that stemmed from a fiery crash on the 605 Freeway in Norwalk last year that left four people dead.
The crash happened back on July 20, 2025 at around 12:55 a.m. on the southbound 605 near Firestone Boulevard, California Highway Patrol officers investigating the incident said at the time.
Investigators say that a Nissan sedan and a CHP patrol car were involved in the crash. The Nissan was disabled in the collision and remained in the road, where it was struck by a Kia and burst into flames, trapping all four occupants inside.
Each of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene and has since been identified as Juliana Hamori, 23 of Huntington Beach, Armand Del Campo, 24, of San Pedro, Jordan Partridge, 23, of Los Angeles and Samantha Skocilic, 22, of Westminster.
The Kia's driver, 27-year-old Iris Salmeron, of Bellflower, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, CHP officers said.
On Monday, Salmeron was charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office with four counts of murder, along with driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and driving under the influence with 0.08% alcohol, causing bodily injury.
He pleaded not guilty to charges. If convicted as charged, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the DA's Office.
Former CHP Officer Angelo Rodriguez, 24, was also charged on Monday, prosecutors said. He was fired after the crash as he was allegedly driving more than 130 miles per hour without his emergency lights or sirens activated when he collided with the Nissan in the southbound lanes. Investigators say that the crash happened as the victims' Nissan entered the carpool lane as they approached the Imperial Highway.
After the crash, Rodriguez is said to have pulled over to the side of the 605, where he then allegedly turned the patrol car's lights off and waited for approximately three minutes before alerting a CHP dispatcher of the crash. He then allegedly exited the freeway while the victims and their vehicle remained in the middle of the freeway, according to the DA's office.
Prosecutors further alleged that Rodriguez called an additional CHP officer to report the crash, but didn't say that he was driving the CHP vehicle involved. They said that he then circled and returned to the freeway at around 12:59 a.m., about two minutes after Salmeron's car crashed into the Nissan.
Rodriguez, who had been with CHP since 2023, was also charged with four counts of murder. If convicted, he also faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, prosecutors said.
"This horrible tragedy could have been prevented had this officer not been driving at ridiculously high speeds for no reason whatsoever without his light and sirens on, if the officer hadn't gone off the side of the road and not called in this incident immediately, had this other individual, Ms. Salmeron, not been driving at an incredibly excessive speed, drunk, while she crashed into this car," Hochman said when charges were announced in March.
Hochman further said that "the initial crash and the actions of Officer Rodriguez were a substantial factor in the ultimate deaths of these four people," further noting that the four occupants of the Nissan were likely still alive following the first crash.
"The second crash is what ignited the car and burned the occupants. We know that they died as part of the second impact," Hochman said.
Both Salmeron and Rodriguez were arrested on March 13 and have remained behind bars since, according to Los Angeles County jail records.
The families of the four victims filed a legal claim against the California Highway Patrol just over a month after the crash happened, demanding answers and questioning the department's role in the crash.