Elderly Driver Gets Probation for Killing SF Family of Four at Bus Stop

At the Muni bus stop on Ulloa Street and Lenox Way in West Portal, Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, his wife Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto, and their two sons, 1-year-old Joaquim and 3-month-old Caue, were waiting for a bus to the zoo on their wedding anniversary when Mary Fong Lau's SUV jumped the curb and struck them at more than 70 mph. All four died. On Friday, a San Francisco Superior Court judge sentenced Lau to two years of probation.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan accepted Lau's no-contest plea to four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter and sentenced her to two years of formal probation, 200 hours of community service, and a three-year driver's license revocation. NBC Bay Area reported the sentence also included six days in county jail with credit for time served, meaning Lau will serve no additional custody time. KTVU characterized the outcome as no jail time and no home detention.

Chan cited Lau's age, her lack of any prior criminal history, her cooperation with the court, and her apparent remorse. "Nothing in the entirety of the defendant's past could have predicted this event," the judge said.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins pushed back on that reasoning. Her office had sought at least one year of home confinement. "Simply because you are elderly does not mean that there shouldn't be sufficient accountability," Jenkins said. "There has to be a form of accountability that actually gives this family a sense of justice, that sends a message to other drivers on the roads of San Francisco that you have to be careful."

About half the courtroom was filled with friends and relatives of the victims. Among those present were Matilde's mother and the grandmother of the two children, as well as Diego's brother and sister. None of them left satisfied.

"My family is devastated, completely devastated," said Luis Ramos Pinto, Matilde's brother. He addressed the sentencing directly: "The evidence in this case showed gross negligence. No defense was presented in court. And you expect a sentence to be proportional to the gravity of the consequences of the crime. Regardless of the person's age. And you always hope that everyone is held equally accountable under the law."

Lau, who has lived in San Francisco for decades, stood during the hearing and addressed the victims' family. "I want to say I am sorry to your family. Sorry, sorry," she said. Defense attorney Seth Morris argued the probation sentence was appropriate, saying his client "will live the rest of her life with remorse" and that she became "a broken person" after learning she had killed an entire family. Morris noted that Lau's own husband was killed in an automobile collision when she was 25.

The victims' family has filed a civil suit against Lau. A separate KTVU report flagged that the family alleges Lau concealed additional assets, a claim with potential implications for that litigation. The family is also preparing to fight for a lifetime license revocation rather than the three-year term imposed by the court.