Fatal Crash 'Forever Changed My Life,' Witness Testifies

Scott Graham never met Nicole Davenport, but he'll never forget her.

Graham testified Thursday that the he witnessed in January, which killed 23-year-old Davenport, "forever changed" his life.

Watching the truck barrel toward and smash into Davenport's car seemed to happen "in slow motion," Graham said, as he haltingly recalled the collision. After the crash, Graham said he rushed to Davenport's vehicle to see if he could help her before the intensity of witnessing the accident and its aftermath caused him to "flip out" and rush from the scene.

A San Clemente man is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case. Prosecutors say Jose Javier Fernandez as Davenport, an Anaheim resident, was pulling out in her sedan.

On the day of the crash, Graham had just left his workplace for a lunch break and was driving up Bake when the red Toyota Tacoma pickup sped by him, ran a red light and crashed into Davenport's passenger door, he testified.

Graham and four sheriff's deputies testified before Orange County Superior Court Judge Joy Weisenfeld Markman in a Newport Beach courtroom as to what they saw at the scene of the Jan. 14 crash.

Ramirez' attorney, Stephen Rios, cross-examined the deputies, who had been called to testify by Deputy District Attorney Nancy Hayashida, on their recollections. He also questioned a recalcitrant Graham, who seemed reluctant to give Rios any potential ammunition for Ramirez' defense. 

Photos of the crash, entered as evidence during the hearing, drew gasps and tears from members of the Davenport family and their supporters, who nonetheless declined to leave the Newport Beach courtroom.

Testimony is scheduled to continue Jan. 4.