Los Osos teen accused of deadly hit-and-run makes first court appearance

The Los Osos teen accused of the fatal hit-and-run of Cal Poly student Kennedy Love made her first San Luis Obispo Superior Court appearance Thursday, three days after the county District Attorney’s Office successfully petitioned to have her tried as an adult.

Gianna Catherine Brencola, 18, faces four felony charges, including vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, driving under the influence, and hit-and-run resulting in death or injury.

The hit-and-run charge carries a minimum sentence of two years in state prison and a maximum of four years. The other charges carry sentence ranges spanning from 16 months to four years.

Brencola was arrested Aug. 29 after witnesses told San Luis Obispo police they saw somebody matching her description behind the wheel of a vehicle that struck Love, a San Diego native who was a third-year landscape architecture student at Cal Poly, as he was riding his bicycle along Foothill Boulevard near Ferrini Road.

Witnesses said the vehicle pulled into a nearby parking lot, where two women got out and examined the damage before getting back in the car and driving off.

Police later found the vehicle abandoned on Tassajara Drive.

Brencola, who appeared alongside her hired counsel Paul Phillips, did not enter a plea but acknowledged she understood her rights when asked by Judge Dodie Harman.

Harman set the matter for further arraignment Tuesday, when parties also will discuss where Brencola is being housed. She is currently being held by juvenile services on $195,000 bail.

A search of court records reveals Brencola was cited for speeding on Oct. 4, 2016; the citation states she was driving in excess of 70 mph in a 50 mph zone along Los Osos Valley Road.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Los Osos teen accused of deadly hit-and-run makes first court appearance."