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A San Mateo County civil jury returned a verdict on Tuesday in the wrongful death case stemming from a 2022 Redwood City crash that killed a San Carlos couple and left their twin daughters without parents.
The couple’s daughters were awarded $33 million in damages. Cesar Morales, who was 17 at the time of the crash, was found liable in the case. The other driver in the race, Kyle Harrison, died in jail after being sentenced.
The crash, which took place on Nov. 4, 2022, killed Grace Spiridon, 42, and Gregory Ammon, 44, and left behind their two seven-year-old daughters, who were in the car.
“No verdict can restore what was taken,” a press release by Mothers Against Murder, advocates for victims’ rights, said.
The jury trial began on July 22 at the San Mateo County Superior Court in South San Francisco.
Morales was adjudicated in juvenile court, where a judge found true two felony vehicular manslaughter allegations and three allegations of engaging in a street race causing great bodily injury. In January 2025, he was ordered to serve 90 days on electronic home monitoring and remain on probation for up to a year. Morales had already spent nearly two years in juvenile detention before his release to home monitoring.
Harrison was convicted of two counts of vehicular manslaughter and felony street racing and was sentenced in February 2025 to eight years in prison. Harrison died in custody in March at the Maple Street Correctional Center; his death was caused by an accidental overdose of methadone, amitriptyline and gabapentin, according to the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office.
“Our focus remains on helping these girls heal while honoring the beautiful lives of both Grace and Greg,” Maria-Liza Spiridon, the twins’ maternal aunt and adoptive mother, said in the press release.
Arnold Morales, the father of Cesar Morales, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
is this a separate civil case from a criminal case?
Hi Andrei. Yes, this is a separate civil case filed by the family of the twin girls against the family of Cesar Morales, one of the drivers charged in the criminal case.