Memorial planned for couple killed

Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic accident that claimed the lives of Carlene Baker, 20, of Cameron Park and Jordan Barkey, 20, of Rancho Cordova.The friends were killed Oct. 14, 2004, when a vehicle driven by a 55-year-old Folsom man apparently under the influence of prescription drugs crossed four lanes of traffic on E. Natoma Street and collided with Barkey's motorcycle, which was traveling westbound on E. Natoma Street and Gionta.Nearly 10 months after the accident, Barry Krug was charged in August with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to a press release issued by the Sacramento District Attorney's office.Tests after the crash revealed Krug was under the influence of a combination of four different prescription drugs. "Records obtained during the investigation revealed that Krug signed a notice from his doctor indicated the prescriptions could adversely affect his ability to drive a motor vehicle," the release stated.Krug has appeared in court twice, but his arraignment has been postponed both times. Family members and friends filled the courtroom at each of Krug's court hearings and are planning to attend the next hearing on Oct. 31."Our focus this last year has been to achieve justice for these two young people," reports Diana Fowler, Baker's great-aunt. "We are also starting to work towards changing the sentencing laws for killing or seriously injuring someone with a motor vehicle. The maximum sentence Mr. Krug can receive is four years, eight months - four years for the first death and eight extra months for the second death. And that is the maximum, which he will probably not receive."On Sunday, friends and family members will gather at the crash site at 1 p.m. to view the permanent plaque that has been erected in their memory. They will then gather for a barbecue at Briggs Park, 125 Manseau Drive (off Blue Ravine Road). As Barkey was active in the motorcycle community, there are two rides planned this weekend to mark the anniversary of his death.The first, scheduled Friday night, will "finish their ride." Motorcyclists will start at Barker's Cameron Park home, stop briefly at the crash site and then proceed to Mark and Monica's Pizza in Granite Bay for dinner. This was the restaurant Baker and Barkey were headed for the night they were killed.A memorial ride on Sunday will end at the crash site at 1 p.m.Baker grew up in Cameron Park, graduated from Oak Ride High School and was about to graduate from Folsom Lake College. She wanted to be a paralegal and was planning to go to school for training in that field, explained her aunt. Baker had worked at Long's Drug Store in Cameron Park since she was 16 and had just started working at ProTech Motorcycle Shop in Cameron Park.Her friend, Jordan Barkey, grew up in Rancho Cordova and graduated from Cordova High. He was attending American River College and wanted to become a police officer.Barkey worked at Apex Motorcycles and was "into" imported sports cars, but his passion was motorcycles, explained Fowler. "They were just two good kids out for a ride on his bike going to a pizza parlor," Fowler said. "He (Jordan) was the only person Carly rode with because he was such a safe driver. Then a man who took way too many prescription narcotics, who knew what he was doing, got in a car and killed them."