Driver in Cupertino crash that killed 2-year-old is charged with murder
Prosecutors say the car was going nearly 100 mph when it rear-ended a stopped car next to Apple’s headquarters.
Prosecutors have charged the driver in the Nov. 6 Cupertino crash that killed a 2-year-old girl from San Jose with murder, upgrading the case from the vehicular manslaughter arrest the Sheriff’s Office announced last week, according to ABC7 News and CBS News Bay Area.
The 38-year-old Santa Clara man was charged Tuesday with one count of murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon in a Palo Alto courtroom, the stations reported. He has not entered a plea, ABC7 reported, and is presumed innocent. His next hearing is set for Nov. 30.
Prosecutors say his Toyota Camry was going nearly 100 mph, about four times the speed limit, when it rear-ended a car stopped at a red light at North Tantau and Pruneridge avenues, next to Apple’s headquarters, ABC7 reported. “The speedometer in his vehicle appeared to have been frozen at 100 at the time of the collision,” Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker told the station.
A deputy’s report filed in court says the driver did not brake and showed no signs of drug or alcohol impairment, CBS News Bay Area reported. The car he hit caught fire. Bystanders pulled out the woman driving it, the girl’s babysitter, and the child, who later died at a hospital. The babysitter had head and spine injuries.
California prosecutors can charge murder in a crash when they believe a driver knew the danger and acted with conscious disregard for life.
Witnesses can call the Sheriff’s Office at 408-868-6637.
Source: Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office news release, Nov. 6, 2026; Sheriff’s Office update on X, Nov. 9, 2026; charging details as reported by ABC7 News and CBS News Bay Area, Nov. 11, 2026.