CAMPO, Calif. (KGTV) - A Campo woman is continuing her emotional mission to change hit-and-run laws after her partner was killed while riding his dirt bike on Thanksgiving Day in 2023.
Aubree Pinkston's love for her partner Austin Spirz lives on in a tattoo filled with images he once drew on a Mother's Day card.
“There is a moon and a rocket. It reads, ‘I love you to the moon and back.’ I see it every day. It makes me think about him every day," Pinkston said.
The 26-year-old Spirz, Pinkston's partner of a decade and father to their three daughters, was killed that Thanksgiving night by a hit-and-run driver while riding his dirt bike on Campo Road.
Months after the incident, Gary Baker pleaded guilty to hit-and-run and other charges and was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison.
Determined to mount a campaign to increase penalties for hit-and-run drivers, Pinkston put up a sign off Campo Road reading "Justice for Austin." In November 2024, a heartbroken Pinkston spoke to me after the sign was stolen. Eventually, a new sign went up and has stayed up.
"Mine and Austin's children and helping others hopefully not go through this," Pinkston said when asked what drives her.
In February, Assemblymember Carl DeMaio introduced AB 1281, "Austin's Law," which raises the penalties for a hit-and-run crash causing serious injury or death from a maximum of 4 years to a minimum of 15 years.
"If you know that you're going to get more time, I believe that will make you stop and second-guess leaving the scene," Pinkston said. "A couple seconds could have saved Austin's life. That couple seconds was burned by him leaving."
The push for change will get a boost Saturday in the back of the Descanso Junction Restaurant from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. for the 2nd annual "Ales for Austin" event.
"I'm hoping to educate people on this bill and give it momentum to push it forward," Pinkston said. "I'm determined to give it all a reason, a purpose. I want to lessen the chances of anyone else feeling what we've been feeling."
A spokesperson for Assemblymember DeMaio's office says Austin's Law was pulled for revisions and will likely head to its first hearing in January.
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