Pictured (at left): Miguel Herrera and Erica Flores. Pictured (below) is the memorial at the crash site.
POMONA -- A woman accused of killing a man and his pregnant girlfriend Monday in a car collision was arrested last week in a separate misdemeanor case, which resulted Friday in a 90-day jail sentence.
But due to overcrowding, 26-year-old Lorraine Martinez spent only two more days in custody. She was released from jail Sunday, authorities said.
The next day, she allegedly drove a stolen car into another vehicle at Holt and Garey avenues in Pomona, causing the other car to break in half and catch fire, police said.
The two people in the car -- Miguel Herrera, 22, and his pregnant 17-year-old girlfriend Erica Flores, both of Pomona -- were killed in the crash and burned beyond recognition, police said.
Despite her lengthy jail sentence, Martinez was released from custody in a matter of days because of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department practice designed to counter overcrowding in county jails, which are administered by the department, a deputy said.
The department immediately releases inmates who are sentenced to 90 days or less for certain offenses, Deputy Lillian Peck said.
At about 1:30 a.m. Monday, Martinez allegedly sped east on Holt in a 2008 Infiniti G375 that she reportedly stole an hour earlier from her boyfriend, police Cpl. Bert Sanchez said.
She allegedly broadsided a 1995 Nissan Maxima that was making a left-hand turn from westbound Holt into a Jack in the Box restaurant at the southeast corner of Holt and Garey, police said.
The impact drove the Nissan into a pole, and the vehicle broke in half and caught fire, police said.
Martinez, a Pomona resident who was reportedly unlicensed, suffered minor injuries in the collision, police said
Martinez also admitted she was high on methamphetamine at the time of the crash, Deputy District Attorney Chris Stogel said.
In her earlier case, Martinez was arrested July 27 in Pomona and subsequently charged with three misdemeanors: possession of a controlled substance, threatening a person with a deadly weapon, and possession of a narcotics pipe.
On Friday, in her first appearance in the case in Pomona Superior Court, Martinez pleaded no contest to two of the charges.
Judge Juan Carlos Dominguez sentenced Martinez to 90 days in jail and placed her on probation for three years.
Martinez returned to court today for a new hearing in the case, which was scheduled because prosecutors filed a request following Monday's crash to revoke Martinez's probation.
During this afternoon's hearing, Dominguez called the developments in Martinez's case "extremely troubling." He ordered Martinez held without bail pending a probation revocation hearing.
Martinez is next due in court Sept. 12, when Dominguez and attorneys will discuss scheduling for Martinez's probation revocation hearing.
Martinez's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Ramiro Cisneros, said Martinez could return to court earlier if prosecutors file new criminal charges in connection with Monday's crash.
Cisneros declined to go into detail about Martinez's arrest last week or Monday's crash, but he did briefly describe Martinez's feelings about the fatal collision.
"She's obviously very upset about what happened," he said. "Other than that, I can't tell you anything else."
Martinez remained jailed today at Central Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.
Police today were still investigating Monday's collision, and hadn't presented their case to prosecutors, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Sanchez said the investigation into Monday's crash will likely take one or two months to complete.
He urged witnesses of the collision to contact the Pomona Police Department at 909-620-2081.