Dan Coyro/Sentinel Eric Weers faces murder charges for intentionally killing Ana Barajas with his car.
SANTA CRUZ — The surviving children of Ana Barajas, the 48-year-old medical technician killed last year in a wrong-way crash on Highway 17, have filed a wrongful death suit over their mother’s death.
Filed in July, the suit names driver Eric Rsel Weers, his father, and the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center where Weers was a resident at the time of the July 11, 2011 accident. It also claims Weers, who was under treatment for schizoaffective disorder, was using illegal drugs and impaired at the time Barajas was killed.
Weers faces murder charges over the crash, with prosecutors alleging he deliberately drove the wrong way onto the highway. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Weers was in court Friday, a hearing attended by members of the Barajas family. A prosecutor said a long-delayed court-ordered psychiatric report by Dr. James Missett has been completed but it has not yet been sent to the attorneys.
Judge Paul Burdick ordered the report be delivered by Friday.
Weers has a history of mental illness and was living in subsidized housing for psychiatric patients in Santa Cruz at the time of the crash. His attorneys previously said Weers was prescribed five psychiatric medications in 2010 but hadn’t taken them for several days before the crash.
Calling the Community Counseling Center’s actions negligent, the suit claims staff there failed to exercise ordinary standards of care. The suit further says staff
knew, or should have known, that Weers was a reckless driver who disobeyed traffic laws, and that he was likely to injure someone while driving.
The suit also names Weers’ father, Robert Weers, who owned the 2001 Acura MDX Weers was driving at the time of the crash.
Robert Weers filed a cross-complaint with the county on Aug. 5. His attorney, Arthur Casey, said Friday that claim would be dismissed, and declined to address the allegations further.
“With the pending litigation, it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment,” Casey said.
The suit was filed by Barajas’ four children, one of whom is a minor.
The Community Counseling Center did not return a call seeking comment.
Jessica Pasko contributed to this report. Follow Sentinel reporter Jason Hoppin on Twitter at Twitter.com/scnewsdude
On the net
To view a copy of the lawsuit, visit santacruzsentinel.com
