A young man accused of driving a jet ski that fatally struck a 12-year-old girl in Mission Bay last summer was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on a felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Arsanyous Refat Ghaly, 19, is charged in the July 29 crash that killed a girl identified in court documents only as Savannah P. The girl was taken to a hospital, where she died of injuries that included blunt force trauma to the head.
The victim was on a paddle board in the De Anza Cove area when she was struck by the watercraft at around 2 p.m. Ghaly, who was 18 years old at the time, was arrested last November in connection with the fatality.
Prosecutors allege the crash occurred within an area where watercraft operators are required to stay below 5 mph.
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Whether Ghaly was operating the jet ski within that area -- locations that are less than 100 feet from shore -- was disputed by his defense attorney, Hakim George Hakim.
During a two-day preliminary hearing, Hakim called to the stand a marine surveyor who testified that he measured the depth of the water at various distances stretching out from the shoreline. Hakim argued that, according to police, the crash occurred in an area where the water was 9 feet deep, which according to the surveyor's calculations, placed the crash at around 150 feet from shore.
He also argued that one witness told police the crash occurred around 100 feet from shore and disputed that his client was warned by a lifeguard that he was riding too fast in the area.
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"This is a tragic accident. An accident from the outset. I sympathize with all the parties in this case, all the families," Hakim said in court. "Nobody expected to be here, but it is our job as a community to find what is proper accountability for the facts that occurred on that day."
Deputy District Attorney Savanah Howe argued that multiple witnesses saw the girl within 100 feet of the shoreline, with one witness telling police the girl was about 25 feet from shore.
The prosecutor argued Ghaly was riding "way beyond the speed limit allowed" and had not only been warned of the speed limits by the lifeguard, but also by another person in his friend group who had been jet skiing earlier.
Earlier in the hearing, San Diego police Officer Alyssa Tutterow testified that data pulled from the jet ski indicated it was traveling between 47 and 53 mph at the time of the collision.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez held Ghaly to answer, stating that the operation of the jet ski was "reckless" and that the number of people out on the water on a summer afternoon meant he had a heightened requirement to operate the vehicle safely.
Ghaly remains out of custody.
