Windsor Man Convicted Of 2nd Degree Murder In 2018 DUI Fatal Crash
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A Windsor man was convicted of second-degree murder for a drunk driving collision that killed another man in 2018, authorities announced Tuesday.
Josimar Ortiz-Ortiz, 29, was convicted Monday after less that three hours of jury deliberations, according to a press statement from the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office.
On Oct. 30, 2018, Ortiz-Ortiz drank about eight beers on his way home from work and by the time he was heading south on Old Redwood Highway toward Windsor, his blood-alcohol level was .23 and he was was weaving in his lane and crossing over the double yellow line.
He collided head-on with a car heading north toward Healdsburg. The driver, 57-year-old Jose Beltran, died in an ambulance after firefighters cut him free from his wrecked car, the district attorney's office said. A passenger in that car suffered major injuries.
"Every motorist in Sonoma County should be acutely aware that impaired drivers who cause the death of another with their vehicle face a potential murder charge," said District Attorney Jill Ravitch in a prepared statement. "It is simply not worth it. This was a tragic incident that was completely avoidable."
Ortiz-Ortiz had been previously convicted of drunk driving in 2015 and was advised by the court as per police that if he continued to drink and drive and he killed someone he could be charged with murder. He also attended mandatory drunk driving education program following that conviction.
Ortiz-Ortiz now faces a possible prison sentence of 15 years to life in state prison. He was scheduled to be sentenced on July 26.
