Man pleads guilty to fatal Del Mar hit-and-run

VISTA (CNS) – A man who drove drunk and struck a marine biologist in a
crosswalk in Del Mar, then fled the scene, pleaded guilty Wednesday to gross vehicular
manslaughter while intoxicated and a hit-and-run allegation.

Christopher “Chip” Stockmeyer, 41, faces between nine and 15 years in
prison when he is sentenced June 20 for the March 28 death of Rachel Morrison.

Witnesses said the 27-year-old UCSD doctorate student, who was studying
at the Scripps Oceanographic Institution, was walking eastbound when Stockmeyer
ran a stop sign in his Audi A-4 and struck her at a high rate of speed at the
intersection of Camino Del Mar and Coast Boulevard about 10:15 p.m.

Morrison's friend, who was walking with her in the crosswalk, was not
injured.

Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe said the Audi symbol from the
car and a partial license plate helped sheriff's deputies locate Stockmeyer at
his La Jolla home 12 miles from the crash site.

Stockmeyer reportedly told deputies that he had been drinking with
friends at a restaurant in Encinitas and admitted he “might have” hit
somebody in Del Mar.

Watanabe estimated the defendant's blood-alcohol level was . 24 percent
at the time of the crash, three times the legal limit for driving.