Supporters Urge Rohnert Park Woman's Release From Jail

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Supporters of a Rohnert Park woman charged with the drowning deaths of her two young daughters in a vehicle crash last year packed a Sonoma County courtroom Wednesday morning to support her possible release from jail. Alejandra Hernandez-Ruiz, 27, who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, is being held in Sonoma County Jail under $500,000 bail.

She was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Impala on Petaluma Hill Road north of Petaluma when it went down an embankment and overturned in the Petaluma River on Aug. 31, 2016. Hernandez-Ruiz escaped the vehicle but her daughters Delilah, 9, and Sayra Gonzalez, 7, drowned.

Hernandez-Ruiz pleaded not guilty Friday to child endangerment, gross vehicular manslaughter and driving while unlicensed. A hearing on her custody status was scheduled for Thursday in Sonoma County Superior Court, but Judge Jamie Thistlethwaite held a hearing this morning so Hernandez-Ruiz could keep a medical appointment Thursday.

• Rohnert Park Woman Jailed In Daughters' Drowning Deaths Petitions For Release

Jail staff will transport Hernandez-Ruiz to and from her medical appointment Thursday and more discussion on her custody status will take place at a hearing Friday, Thistlethwaite said.

"I am considering releasing her on enhanced supervision," the judge said during the brief hearing this morning.

Hernandez-Ruiz is receiving medications and antibiotics in the jail, Thistlethwaite noted.

Hernandez-Ruiz's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6.

By Bay City News Service

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