Man pleads no contest to manslaughter in SUV death
By the Mercury News
A Santa Cruz man accused of running over and killing an aspiring Palo Alto rapper with a sport-utility vehicle pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
His lawyer, Paul Meltzer, said William ``Billy'' Hill, 22, will receive a four-year sentence for running over Chad Snow, 23, as Snow lay on a sidewalk on Palo Alto's Washington Avenue after a party at a nearby house in October 2003.
Snow and Hill had gone outside after a rowdy party on Cowper Street broke up about midnight on Oct. 3, 2003. There was reportedly a fist-fight, and Hill and some friends were attempting to flee in a white Chevy Tahoe when Snow jumped on the hood.
Two friends of Snow's told police they watched him fall to the ground when the SUV stopped abruptly. They said they ran to help Snow, but as they laid Snow next to a tree, the SUV made a three-point turn and charged onto the sidewalk, driving over Snow's head and hitting his friend, Rodney Bautista.
Snow was taken off life support and died on Oct. 7, 2003.
