HAMILTON — The suspected driver in a head-on crash that killed a Hamilton woman was in jail Monday on $125,000 bond.
Julio Cesar Olvera-Mejia, 23, of the 400 block of North Fifth Street is charged with felony aggravated vehicular homicide, operating a vehicle under the influence and fleeing the scene in connection with the crash that killed 43-year-old Jennifer Bowling as she returned home from work Sunday night.
Olvera-Mejia appeared Monday before Hamilton Municipal Court Judge Daniel Gattermeyer.
He is accused of driving a Buick LaSabre left of center about 11:20 p.m. Sunday on Martin Luther King Boulevard near Linden Street, striking Bowling’s 2001 Saturn SL1.
Bowling was flown to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where she died of her injuries, according to police.
William Altizer, 63, described Bowling, a clerk at a Shell gas station, as a one-of-a kind neighbor who checked on him daily after he had open heart surgery a few years ago.
“She always checked on me and brought me food. She checked on me (Sunday) before she went to work,” Altizer said.
“She was just a loving person. … You don’t find very many people like her,” said Altizer, who lives next door to the Bowling family.
He said Bowling is survived by her husband, Bart, their two daughters, ages 23 and 21, and three grandchildren — two boys and a girl — ages 7 years, 7 months and 4 months.
According to Prosecutor Kathy Dudley, police found numerous open and closed alcoholic beverages in the car Olvera-Mejia was driving.
Dudley said Olvera-Mejia fled the accident to his Fifth Street home with his passenger, Juan Olvera, 30.
Olvera-Mejia was arrested about 2:50 a.m. at Mercy Hospital Fairfield, where he was taken by a friend for treatment, according to authorities.
If convicted, Olvera-Mejia faces up to eight years on the felony charge, said Gattermeyer, who set an April 12 preliminary hearing.
Olvera-Mejia has no driver’s license, insurance or Social Security number, according to Hamilton police.
A translator relayed information for him during his arraignment.
He is being held in the Butler County Jail, where there is a holder on his release for investigation by U.S. immigration officials.
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