Drunk driver sentenced to prison for killing 14-year-old boy in SLO County hit-and-run crash
A Santa Maria man was sentenced to more than 20 years to life in prison for killing a 14-year-old while driving drunk in Nipomo, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Earnesto Nava Herrera, 27, collided head-on with another vehicle while speeding the wrong way on Highway 101 on March 27, 2021.
Herrera was driving his Chevy Tahoe when he collided with 70 feet of metal pipe fencing and knocked over a tree while driving drunk, according to the office.
He then drove away from the scene of the crash and entered Highway 101 the wrong way, using the Tefft Street off-ramp, where he almost struck a vehicle before the driver was able to swerve out of the way, the office said.
He continued to drive in the wrong direction, accelerating south in the northbound lanes of Highway 101 before crashing head-on into another vehicle, killing a 14-year-old boy and seriously injuring two others. Herrera’s vehicle was badly damaged in the crash, and he fled the scene on foot.
California Highway Patrol found Herrera by helicopter about an hour after the crash crawling near the freeway. His blood alcohol level was 0.164 about two and a half hours after the collision, according to the release.
Three months prior to the crash on New Year’s Eve 2020, Herrera had been arrested for driving under the influence and law enforcement officers warned him of the dangers of driving intoxicated.
A jury found Herrera guilty of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit and run causing death, driving under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily injury and driving on a suspended license in February after a three-week trial, court documents show.
He also pleaded no contest to possession of child pornography found on his phone during the homicide investigation, the District Attorney’s Office said.
The mother of the 14-year-old boy killed in the crash spoke during the sentencing hearing, remembering her only child as “a miracle boy” with “many dreams and aspirations.”
“He was a very ambitious 14-year-old, enjoyed soccer, and was an avid reader,” she said. “He loved to travel and had been to Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, and many states in the U.S., and he loved Disneyland. He was a pleasure to be around, and he was loved by many. He loved math, physics, and science. He was a 4.0 student and was enroute to be valedictorian of his class. He aspired to be an engineer and hoped someday to be a Noble prize winner. He loved sea otters, and he had a best friend, Oddy. He looked forward to Summer Christian Camp, and spending time with his cousins. He also enjoyed summer school and math enrichment, and spending time with his friends. ‘J’ will be missed every day and remembered forever.”
Herrera was sentenced to six years and eight months plus 15 years to life in state prison.
