On
June 13th, while driving in Hollywood, former Noxzema girl and
actress Rebecca Gayheart noticed that a line of cars had stopped
in front of her. Blissfully disregarding that these cars were
probably stopped for a good reason, she swerved into a two-way
left-turn lane, at 40 miles per hour, to go around them. She would
discover soon enough that the cars had stopped to allow nine-year-old
Jorge Cruz, Jr. to cross the street. The car she was driving struck
the young boy, who died the next morning.
On September
18th, a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross
negligence was filed against Gayheart. She pleaded no contest,
and on November 27th was sentenced to three years' probation,
the suspension of her driver's license, a small fine, 750 hours
of community service, and was ordered to produce a safe-driving
video.
Interestingly,
some weeks before the charges were filed, on August 6th, the boy's
parents, Jorge Cruz and Silvia Martinez, brought a wrongful death
lawsuit against Gayheart and Marco Leonardi, the owner of the
car she was driving. Thus, well-known plaintiff's attorney Steven
Lerman is being pitted against well-known celebrity defense attorney
Harland Braun.
Gayheart was
so chastised because of the criminal charges and the boy's death,
that on October 1st, she flipped her rental car into two parked
vehicles. Poor baby. Her father actually commented: "Luckily,
this time Rebecca only suffered a cut lip, but it could have been
far worse. No trip to the grocery store is worth this." And
what about a boy's life?
It is easy
enough to dismiss this tragedy as just another rotten LA story.
The annals of Hollywood sleaze are chock full of tales of celebrities
killing nobodies or even other celebs--sometimes willfully--and
getting away with it. But this one touches on too many contemporary
issues to pass by.
Overwhelmingly,
the media ignored the dead child, and painted Gayheart as the
victim, who must now "suffer" for the rest of her life,
with this sad incident on her conscience. Much was made of her
paying for the medical and funeral expenses, and her tears (shed
just at the right moments) during her sentencing. That she is
an actress, and was clearly plying her craft in court, seemed
to be missed by all the elite media outlets.
Then there's
the matter of Jorge Jr.'s illegitimacy. Exactly when were his
parents going to get married? Were they even together before all
this happened? They surely DID get together for the big lawsuit.
On the other
hand, Gayheart's parents are together, and have clearly been close
to her, spoiling her, and are making excuses for her even now.
Since the October 1st accident, Rebecca's mother has been chauffeuring
her around. One might think that being 29 and having plenty of
money would equip Rebecca to take care of herself--but why should
she start now?
Try to put
aside the celebrity mythology, the lawsuit, and the wrist-slap
sentencing. Turn your thoughts instead to the dead boy. Rebecca
Gayheart should have stopped and waited, but made the fateful
decision to go around those other cars. One of the first things
taught to all prospective drivers, especially in California, is
to NEVER pass a line of stopped cars, since they are very likely
stopped for a pedestrian. Gayheart, though, was in a hurry.
Perhaps, she
was heading to take a meeting about some new project, to round
out her oeuvre, that already contains such classics as Scream
2 (1997), Urban Legends (1998), Shadow Hours (2000), and From
Dusk Till Dawn 3 (2000). We should note that she started her career
inauspiciously with Whatever Happened to Mason Reese (1990).
No doubt,
the world needs much more of Ms. Gayheart, and the sooner the
better.
As for Jorge
Cruz, Jr., and what he could have contributed to the world, we
will never know. But as to how much he is worth, and what he will
contribute to his parents and Steven Lerman, we will find out
in due course.