Wife of wrong-way crash suspect speaks of grief

Mei, 37, is charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of crossing over a divided highway causing death in connection with the Jan. 30 crash that killed San Francisco Examiner photographer Susan Caldwell, 41, and her daughter Nina Garrison, 14.

Due to ongoing criminal proceedings, Cindy Mei declined to discuss specifics about the day of the crash. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she felt sorry that Caldwell and Garrison died.

"I'm so sad for their loss," she said.

She described her spouse as "a good husband."

According to the police reports, Wen Tu Mei was evidently driving south in the northbound lane on South San Francisco's Bayshore Boulevard when his minivan crashed head-on into Caldwell's 2000 Honda Accord about 2:05 p.m.

Caldwell died at the scene, and Garrison was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital. Mei, a father of toddler son and an infant daughter, was seriously injured in the collision. His left leg was amputated and he remained hospitalized in a non-responsive state for several months.

According to Cindy Mei, her husband also suffered injuries to his right leg, lost most of his teeth, suffered internal bleeding and a brain injury that caused memory loss. Wen Tu Mei also injured his colon and now uses a colostomy bag.

Mei was arrested at home on May 27.

According to Victor Hwang, managing attorney of Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, Mei has fallen several times while in custody and is not in sanitary conditions considering his medical problems. Additionally, "He's not able to see the doctors he's supposed to be seeing," Hwang said.

Apparently overcome with emotion, Cindy Mei ended the news conference early as she began breathing rapidly, telling reporters that she felt that she might faint.

Moments earlier, she said that she has fainted twice since the Jan. 30 crash and is having trouble coping in the aftermath of the collision.

"My heart breaks I'm so scared," she said through the interpreter. "I'm afraid I cannot live. I'm so, so overwhelmed. When the two kids go to sleep I feel emptiness."

Since the accident, the Mei family has gone on welfare, relying on social support from Asian Perinatal Advocates and API Legal Outreach. The groups are working on gathering information showing Mei's ties to the community, so that a judge might consider lowering his $500,000 bail, "Especially in light of his medical condition," Hwang said.

Mei is scheduled to appear in San Mateo County's South San Francisco branch for a preliminary hearing on June 20 at 9 a.m.