The district attorney’s office told the Simi Valley Acorn this week it has filed charges against the 17-year-old girl who caused a double fatal accident after running a red light.

Brian Rafelson, supervising attorney for the juvenile unit in the Ventura County District Attorney’s office, said Tuesday vehicular manslaughter charges were being pursued against the girl, a Simi Valley resident.

“There have been charges filed but we can’t discuss the matter because of the confidentiality of juvenile proceedings,” Rafelson said.

The collision occurred on the evening of March 17 at the intersection of Royal Avenue and Sinaloa Road. According to police, the girl’s Lincoln Navigator ran a red light and slammed into a small sedan carrying Simi Valley residents Jessica Zarate, 24, and Oliver Stokes, 22.

Zarate, the driver of the sedan, was pronounced dead at the scene. Stokes, her good friend, died later at Simi Valley Hospital.

The driver of the SUV was not injured.

Simi Police Officer Vernon Trujillo, the primary accident investigator on the case, submitted an accident report to the D.A. on May 12. In it, Trujillo asked the D.A. to consider filing two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the teen.

He told the Acorn at the time that this kind of request is typical when an accident caused by a driver’s mistake results in the loss of life.

During his investigation, Trujillo was able to rule out the possibility that the teen was talking on the phone or sending or receiving a text message. However, the officer said he could not tell by looking at the phone records if she was in the process of typing a text message.

Though he couldn’t say definitively why the teen ran the red light, Trujillo said it was clear she was engaged in some form of severe inattention.

Vehicular manslaughter, according to section 192 of the California penal code, is defined as the crime of driving a vehicle negligently and directly causing another person’s death.

Previously, Trujillo wouldn’t reveal whether he was asking for vehicular manslaughter charges with gross negligence or simple negligence. However, this week he told the Acorn he had submitted the report with a recommen- dation for gross negligence, which carries a maximum sentence of up to six years in state prison.

Trujillo said his request was due to “the sheer tardiness of the red light violation.”

Rafelson would not specify what degree of vehicular manslaughter charges his office would pursue.

The family of the teen driver declined comment to the Acorn.