VISTA: A man was charged with murder yesterday in a hit-and-run accident in Solana Beach that killed a 40-year-old bicyclist.
If convicted, Brian Stephen Carnes, 41, of Escondido faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison, prosecutor Brenda Daly said in an interview.
Carnes was arrested 90 minutes after the March 16 accident on suspicion of causing a hit-and-run accident while intoxicated.
Daly filed the murder charge based on Carnes' previous drunken-driving conviction and his blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident, which the prosecutor declined to reveal.
Jeannie Franklin of Solana Beach was pedaling south about noon in the bike lane on North Highway 101 near Solana Vista Drive when Carnes' SUV crossed into her lane and hit her, authorities said. The impact from the collision threw Franklin into a small tree, where she died despite a doctor quickly coming to her aid.
Carnes remained in jail, with bail set at $500,000.
