A Merced County jury has acquitted a driver of two counts of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in a 2022 Atwater crash that killed two women.

The women’s family told The Merced FOCUS they’re disappointed in the outcome. But the defense attorney in the case says a medical episode suffered by the driver – not negligence – caused the tragedy.

The deaths of sisters Billie Edwards, 73, and Carolyn Rose, 76, made headlines across the Valley after it happened in November 2022. 

The women had walked the same stretch of Juniper Avenue in Atwater every morning for two-and-a-half years.

Their walk ended abruptly one morning when a black minivan driven by Debra Huddleston veered off the roadway and struck them. The sisters died on impact.

Merced County District Attorney’s Office charged Huddleston, 60, with two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Huddleston pleaded not guilty to both counts in August 2023. At the end of January this year, the jury ruled that Huddleston was not guilty, according to court documents.

Family Alleges Police Conducted Shoddy Investigation

The family of the two victims alleges the Atwater Police Department conducted a shoddy investigation, which the department has denied. They wrote letters to the state and federal Attorney General’s offices, hoping their investigators will revisit the case.

“My main hope is that some serious, serious change can come to Atwater PD,” Michelle Elissiry, Edwards’ daughter, said in an interview with The Merced FOCUS. “A lot of changes need to be made. The last thing I would ever want is this to happen to another family.

“I’m not happy with it, and it’s a real hard pill to swallow, but I’m having to come to terms with it and find a way to accept what I can’t change.”

Driver Told Police She Was a Cancer Patient

The crash was traumatic for Huddleston, too, her defense attorney Darryl Young said. Young argued to jurors that his client had a medical incident that caused her to lose control of the vehicle.

Huddleston told police that she was a cancer patient and had blacked out while behind the wheel.

“I first want to express my sincere condolences to the victims’ family,” Young said. “This was a horrible tragedy. There weren’t any winners.”

The misdemeanor charges reflect what the Merced County District Attorney’s Office was able to prove under California law, the agency wrote in a statement to The FOCUS.

Through an email, the office declined further comment.

“We respect the jury process while acknowledging the pain and frustration this decision has caused,” officials with the District Attorney’s Office wrote to The FOCUS.

The Morning of the Crash and Its Aftermath

Billie was concerned about the speed of drivers along this road, her husband said, but she never could have expected someone would drive onto the sidewalk.

The morning of the crash, Bob Edwards, Billie’s husband, was working in his home office less than a half-mile away from where Billie was out walking with her sister.

He opened up the Life360 app on his phone, which allows users to see the real-time location of family or friends.

When he saw Billie’s icon had stopped moving, he drove immediately to her location. He found a horrifying scene.

Bob saw the remains of his wife’s body amid the wreckage. Additionally, around two gallons of oil and transmission fluid had spilled out of the vehicle, the police report noted.

He watched two men in hazmat suits wash his wife’s blood and tissue into the sand, “like it was garbage on the lot,” he said. “I know they had to do it, but… it didn’t sit well with me.”

Atwater police officers responded to the collision scene and completed the investigation. Police found that Huddleston caused the collision by veering her vehicle to the right and onto the sidewalk. Drugs and alcohol were not involved, police found.

Officer Michael Rivera requested the case be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office, recommending two charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Family Says Questions Unanswered

Atwater Police Chief Richard McEachin, who took the reins of the department in Dec. 2024, declined an interview, saying he was not at the department during the case and would not be able to speak on the outcome of the trial or the investigation.

Elissiry, the Edwards’ daughter, has alleged there were multiple mistakes in the police report, and it wasn’t until February that the department retrieved Billie’s phone. Huddleston retrieved her phone 23 hours after the incident and wiped its memory, Elissiry alleged.

She also alleged the officer did not complete a field sobriety test after the collision and said the police lost recordings of witness statements before trial.

Elissiry worked as a police officer at the Union City Police Department in the Bay Area for 10 years, where she spent two years as a detective.

“I was a detective. I know what needs to be done, and (the officer) didn’t do that,” Elissiry said.

Atwater Police Department officials held a press conference in the weeks following the fatal crash. Then-Police Chief Mike Salvador recommended the District Attorney’s Office file felony charges, the Merced Sun-Star previously reported.

In 2023, Salvador disagreed with the family’s allegations that police made multiple mistakes.

“The family isn’t going to be happy unless this lady spends the rest of her life in prison,” Salvador previously told the Sun-Star. “They’re not happy with me, they’re not happy with my department, and I can understand that. They lost two loved ones. I get it.”

Court Trial

The victims’ family packed rows of seats in the courtroom. It was around 1:30 p.m. when the verdict was reached – not guilty. One family member yelled after the verdict and another during the testimony, said Young, the defendant’s attorney.

The trial lasted four days, and it took the jury less than a day to reach their decision, Young said.

During trial, witness allegations that Huddleston was using her cellphone before the collision were disproved, Young said.

Medical experts who testified for the defense said that Huddleston was not on her phone prior to the collision and had a medical emergency. The jury agreed.

During Huddleston’s testimony, she apologized to the family, Elissiry recalled. But it didn’t feel genuine to hear an apology three years later, she said.

Huddleston wanted to apologize earlier but was advised not to since she was facing criminal charges, Young told The FOCUS.

“That’s why she apologized at trial, but she didn’t apologize prior to that, because it was through advice of counsel,” Young said.

Inseparable Sisters Loved Country Music

Bob and Billie were married for 56 years and together for 58. They met at a steakhouse in downtown Merced. After one date, Billie knew she would marry him, Bob recalled.

The two moved to Parris Island in South Carolina for six years during Bob’s Marine Corps  service. They moved to Union City in California, and finally, Atwater.

Elissiry did everything with her mom, Billie, she said.

During summers at her house, she’d float in the pool with her mom and aunt, laughing, talking and listening to country music. They traveled to country music concerts together and saw artists Reba and Thomas Rhett, among others.

Michelle and Billie went to Las Vegas for Reba’s residency show a few years before the crash. After one show, the two bought tickets to see it again the next evening.

Carolyn, Billie’s sister, married Tommy Rose, and they were together for 55 years before he died, the Sun-Star previously reported.

Bob Edwards plans to place a stone marker near the intersection where his wife and sister-in-law died.

“I loved her with every bit of my being. She loved me the same,” Bob said.

About the Reporter

Elizabeth Wilson is the public safety reporter for The Merced FOCUS.