Widow of 'Singing Cowboy' Gene Autry kills pedestrian while driving in Palm Springs

 The 69-year-old widow of famed “Singing Cowboy” Gene Autry struck and killed a homeless man while driving in Palm Springs on Thanksgiving Day, authorities said.

Jackie Autry struck 50-year-old Jesus Cardova Diaz as she was driving on Sunrise Way, north of Ramon Road, said Det. Steve Woodward, a traffic investigator with the Palm Springs Police Department.

Diaz was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center, where he later died, Woodward said.

Diaz, who was believed to be homeless, was not in a crosswalk when he was struck. Autry was not cited and did not undergo a blood alcohol test because it was clear she was not under the influence, Woodward said.

Investigators were awaiting autopsy results to see if Diaz was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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-- Stephen Ceasar

Photo: Jackie Autry in 2002. Credit: Amy Sanchetta / Associated Press

Comments

[lauraG]

Former owner of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...$$$$

[KW]

Good thing he didn't jaywalk in Downtown LA. He would be alive, but have a $151 ticket on him.

Seriously though, this is sad for both of them.

[Martin]

Jackie is a wonderful person. Some of you posting these hateful comments seem to be missing that Jesus Cardova Diaz was not walking in a crosswalk as is the law. Laws are important to help protect life. If Jackie was not speeding and not under the influence, she is innocent.

[Richard]

Just like some to automatically accuse the rich of wrongdoing! What about the crazy idiot in the middle of the street?

[David]

Back in the saddle again . . .

[MB]

i thought the pedestrian always had the right away,.. I guess not in rich suburban areas,. the rich must have the right away to run people over...Sad.

[Michelle]

The truth is that if this was not a hispanic homeless person that she hit, but someone's white kid, she'd have been tested and and this would have been investigated further. Best example a few weeks ago a family of 5 kids and a grandmother crossed the street, not at the crosswalk and were hit by a car. Big investigation there! The homeless are treated like they are sub-human.

[Pizzedoff]

I lean with JC on this one. She appears to be well dressed, and the view of the suit by her side looks to be well cut. IF that is her lawyer, it doesn't appear that he's some rumple draped slack either.
Without more details, why is Mr. Jesus (Diaz) the one being singled out for being "under the influence"... simply BECAUSE he was reportedly homeless? And further, was Mr. Jesus the legal distance from any crosswalk which would allow him to traverse across the right of way?
Personally, I find her facial expression looking a bit too smug, almost as if she's straining to NOT break into an obvious smile.

[X-Man]

Should have been tested on the spot. She ran over a person and that person was obviously injured enough to take to the hospital. It's not like she hit a tree or a dog. She killed another human being. Just as a matter of record, she should have been tested in this situation.

Was she talking on a cell phone maybe? Did they check that? They got to get her phone records and see if she wasn't talking while driving. They've proven that's just as dangerous as being intoxicated.

That is crap. Yet another example of the rich and influential getting away with murder.

[David]

EPK: It's because he was homeless, under the influence, not in the crosswalk, and Latino.

[Ness in Silverlake]

Like I said previously, if you want to commit murder, hit a pedestrian or cyclist in a car and say, "I didn't see them." And if you're rich and white, you will avoid the humiliation of a sobriety test and never have to pick up trash for your crime.

[X-Man]

Again, I bet she was talking on her cell phone. Older people like her driving and talking on the cell phone is a very dangerous combination. It's just as dangerous as driving drunk.

Get her phone records to prove her guilt or innocence. And if she was driving under the influence, it's too late now, and she got away with murder.

[John]

EPK

You're just another racist looking for a way to exploit you're racism. Get off these blogs. You're a cancer.

[Martini]

Did she run him over with the Cadillac, the Bentley or the Jag?
How come she didn't appear to be under the influence?
I drove once a Bentley and I felt instantly intoxicated!

[Amalgamate]

Cops only investigate for intoxication if they have reason to-nothing to do with wealth or race.
The woman was clearly not drunk-she was going the speed limit and hit a person breaking the law by jaywalking.
Case closed
Stop hating the rich-theyre paying vast majority of taxes in this country to keep this country safe and upkeep
Be a little more grateful

[Tazio]

All of the racist comments towards white people here are despicable, and aren't doing the Hispanic community any favors. Full disclosure—my mom is Hispanic, and immigrated here from South America. However, she had learned English and gained her citizenship.

All of this talk about how "white people are favored" or "the rich get away with stuff" seems to forget all of the Sanctuary City idiocy in this state, and how murderers like Edwin Ramos (up in San Francisco) constantly get put back into society because "God Forbid, we enforce our laws when Hispanics are involved"...

[Disgusted]

She did not appear to be under the influence...hmmmm.....interesting Palm Springs PD....seems to me...could be wrong...think not...you should have done your "standard" investigation and given her the same courtesy as you would any other driver...TEST THEM!

And honestly...if I were her..I would have demanded it...just to "cya" just in case a relative comes out of the woodwork and wants to sue.

[Dadsquatch]

Blah, blah, blah, evil rich white people, blah, blah, blah. Shut up.

[Tazio]

wow, the La Raza set is all fired up and wants to blame Mrs. Autry for not being tested for sobriety, even though Diaz wasn't in a crosswalk, and Mrs. Autry displayed no signs of being under the influence. Way to not take responsibility for following common traffic/pedestrian laws, Aztlan!

[dee gee]

in california, the ped has the RIGHT OF WAY. PERIOD .....if for some reason, some person doesn't think they can handle this they should "get back on the saddle again" and ride a horse. Mr. Autry KNEW what he was singing about.....

[tulsadave]

“Property is the fruit of labor….property is desirable….a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.”

Abraham Lincoln

[latinovoter]

How fast was that man running?

[sober1]

See? If you aren't loaded and hit a jaywalker, you go home and not to jail.

[latinovoter]

Let me get this straight.
The victim was running too fast and gets ran over... he is obviously responsible for this because he was Latino, poor, homeless, maybe under the influence, and not in the crosswalk... (he was just a few feet from the crosswalk where she ran over him....)
The lady who ran over the victim is not culpable, she doesn't need nor deserves a sobriety test... she is white, rich, drives a nice car, and of course she doesn't drink or smoke or take prescription drugs... or... come on, she is a saint.

[kwitcherbellyakin]

A pedestrian always has right of way,think of a kid chasing a ball. Jesus a grown man could have "suicided" himself on Jackie's vehicle. It might have been smart (if she had her wits about her, perhaps under the circumstances she did not) to insist on a sobriety check so the nasties wouldn't have such a field day here. Personally, under any situation, knowing I had killed someone and hopefully in her case actually going out of her vehicle to check on him would ruin my day and haunt my dreams for a very long time... sad for all involved.