You’ve accurately summarized the key publicly reported facts of the case involving Mary Fong Lau and the deaths of Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, Matilde Moncado Ramos Pinto, and their two young children at the West Portal Muni bus stop in San Francisco.
Here is the current posture of the case and what Lau is asking for:
Current criminal charges
- Lau has been charged by the San Francisco District Attorney with four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence stemming from the March 16, 2024 crash, in which she allegedly drove her Mercedes SUV at about 65 mph into the bus stop area, killing all four victims.
- She previously entered a not‑guilty plea to these felony charges and has been ordered not to drive pending trial.
Lau’s explanation of the crash
- Immediately after the crash, an eyewitness account reported in court documents says Lau stated she tried to hit the brakes but “accidentally moved her foot onto the gas pedal,” suggesting a pedal‑error scenario.
- In a later interview at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, she reportedly told police there was a sudden “malfunction with the vehicle” causing rapid acceleration and that she tried to brake and shift into park but could not slow down.
- A subsequent investigation cited by local outlets and prosecutors concluded that mechanical and medical issues were ruled out, which is part of why gross negligence charges were filed.
Request to reduce felonies to misdemeanors
- Lau’s defense attorney is formally asking the court to allow her to plead guilty to misdemeanor offenses instead of the current felony vehicular manslaughter charges.
- This type of request is usually framed around arguments that the conduct, while negligent, did not rise to “gross negligence” under California law, and may cite her age, lack of prior record, and claimed confusion or pedal error. (The precise legal arguments will be in the defense’s written motion, which is not fully quoted in news summaries.)
Prosecutors’ and family’s opposition
- The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office has filed a motion opposing any reduction of the felony charges, maintaining that Lau’s conduct—high speed, loss of control, and impact in a pedestrian area—constitutes gross negligence.
- Family members, including Matilde’s brother, have spoken publicly that they are “vehemently against” reducing the charges and believe there is no evidence this was anything less than gross negligence; they describe any misdemeanor‑only outcome as a “slap on the wrist” for four deaths.
Related civil wrongful death lawsuit
- The victims’ relatives have filed a wrongful death suit against Lau in civil court, seeking damages for the deaths of the parents and children.
- In that civil case, they allege that Lau has tried to conceal or move assets out of her trust—specifically, transferring multiple properties—to keep them beyond the reach of any potential settlement or judgment; local coverage reports that the lawsuit claims these transfers were intentional fraudulent conveyances.
- Their attorney, Jim Quadra, has publicly argued that if criminal charges were reduced, it would signal that someone could act with gross negligence, cause four deaths, and face only a misdemeanor consequence.
If you’d like, I can next break down what “gross negligence” means under California vehicular manslaughter law and how courts typically distinguish between felony and misdemeanor charges in pedal‑error or sudden acceleration cases.
