Nipomo man gets prison sentence for DUI crash that killed 82-year-old woman
A Nipomo man involved in a drunk driving crash that killed an 82-year-old Santa Maria woman has been sentenced.
According to a news release from the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, Edgar Saul Rojas Morales, 25, was sentenced in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Thursday to 15 years to life in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, as well as other felonies related to the December 2018 crash.
According to the release, Morales was driving on Thompson Road in Nipomo while impaired by alcohol when he drove into the opposing lane of traffic, and struck a car driven by Maricela Medina Marquez, 62, and occupied by Maria Rosas Medina, 82.
Medina died from injuries sustained in the crash, and Marquez suffered moderate injuries, the release said.
According to the release, Morales had a blood alcohol level nearly twice the legal limit, and indicated to officers that he felt “clumsy” and should not have been driving that evening.
“The tragic death of Ms. Medina was completely avoidable,” county District Attorney Dan Dow said in the release. “This conviction and sentence should serve as a warning that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is deadly dangerous, will not be tolerated in San Luis Obispo County and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Morales also had two prior convictions for driving under the influence of intoxicants.
He was convicted in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court on Dec. 16 of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and driving on a suspended license, according to the release.
Though prosecution sought murder charges, a jury could not decide if Morales had the “implied malice” necessary for a murder conviction, according to a previous Tribune report.
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