A San Francisco woman killed in a hit-and-run in Sacramento County was the subject of an infamous animal cruelty case in 2018, according to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Wakeen Best, 37, was walking in an intersection in North Highlands near Sacramento shortly before midnight on Aug. 26 when she was struck by a vehicle.
More information on the alleged hit-and-run has not been made available.
In 2018 Best was accused of killing a Chihuahua by throwing it from the seventh floor of a city parking garage, only to see the conviction thrown out on appeal.
"She had a very tough life. What a tragic coda," said Alexandra Pray, the deputy public defender who represented Best at trial with the earlier case, said the news was heartbreaking.
In 2018, Best was convicted of animal cruelty and other charges and sentenced to three years in prison, but a state appeals court overturned her conviction in May 2020 because she had been denied permission to act as her own lawyer.
She had already served her sentence, with time off for good behavior, so prosecutors decided not to retry the case.
