LaGrotta accepts manslaughter in death of woman jogger

Nicholas LaGrotta has pled guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter and DUI in the death of a woman jogger who was killed while running along Thousand Oaks' Lindero Canyon Road in August.

The 23-year-old Santa Rosa Valley man reversed a not guilty plea he made during his September arraignment. Sentencing will take place at 3 p.m. on Jan. 30.

In the early morning hours of Aug. 26, Thousand Oaks resident Karey Marsh, 46, was jogging in the bike lane on Lindero near Bowfield Street when she was hit by a Subaru Forester driven by LaGrotta.

The impact threw Marsh about 30 feet into some roadside brush. Thermal imaging cameras were used to locate her body and chainsaws were needed to cut through the thick growth in order to extricate her. Marsh was pronounced dead at the scene.

LaGrotta had .08 percent blood alcohol, officials said.

LaGrotta, who is in custody at the main jail in Ventura, is taking responsibility for what happened, said his attorney, Phil Dunn of Thousand Oaks.

"He has profound regret and great sorrow over what happened and, in order that this process doesn't cause any more pain to anyone else, he's entered this plea of guilty," Dunn said.

Prosecutors will seek a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, said Deputy District Attorney Rachelle Dean.

"He will argue that he took responsibility early in the proceedings, but we will hear evidence of what happened in the case and his priors. He has not been convicted of anything, but he does have a prior history," Dean said.

Neither the prosecutor nor the defense lawyer would disclose details about LaGrotta's past, but court records show that he had received three speeding tickets in Ventura County.

Dunn said a judge would have to justify giving the maximum sentence of 10 years.

"We will be seeking a sentence in the neighborhood of probation or four years," Dunn said.

"He's young, he's entered a plea of guilty at an early stage, he didn't put everyone through a jury trial, and he's expressed remorse," Dunn said.

LaGrotta, who was taken to Los Robles Hospital with three broken vertebrae and multiple abrasions, told authorities he didn't realize he had hit anyone.

Shoes found on the pavement led officers at the scene to suspect a pedestrian was involved in the accident.

Marsh, a Merrill Lynch employee, was not married and had no children. She had also worked as a personal trainer at the Spectrum health club in Thousand Oaks.