Man in fatal Redwood City street race pleads no contest

Harrison was not driving the car that hit the couple nearly two years ago. Cesar Morales, 17 at the time of the crash, will go to juvenile court Oct. 11, facing up to six years if convicted, prosecutors said.

Morales and Harrison did not know each other, but Morales is accused of going more than 80 mph while racing on El Camino Real in Redwood City in November 2022, T-boning a car and killing Greg Ammen, 44, and Grace Spiridon, 42. Their 7-year-old twin daughters survived the crash.

Harrison drove away from the scene of the crash and was arrested two weeks later, according to the DA's Office. 

Though Harrison is found liable for the deaths due to his engagement in the speed contests, it wasn’t his car that did the killing, Wagstaffe said.

That’s combined with the fact that Morales — who allegedly killed the couple — will be tried as a juvenile, meaning Harrison faces more jail time than him even if Morales is convicted. In light of these facts, the DA’s Office dismissed its original charge of two counts of murder, replacing it with vehicular manslaughter charges.

“We feel it’s the just and fair thing to do, in light of how the actual killer, the one who did actual driving that killed these two parents, the court decided he wouldn’t be transferred to adult court,” Wagstaffe said.

A judge decided in June that he would be tried as a juvenile, weighing a variety of factors like seriousness of the crime, prior record and amenability to treatment, Wagstaffe said.

Harrison has shown “enormous remorse” for what he did, Wagstaffe said, a fact the DA’s Office also took into consideration alongside his responsibility for the collision.

“He’s legally culpable, because it takes two to have a speed contest. He’s encouraging Mr. Morales to engage in speed contest,” he said. “He is the nonkiller and the actual killer is getting a lesser sentence.”