Lawsuit is filed in deadly O. C. crash

Three children were orphaned; driver of other vehicle charged with murder and DUI.

A wrongful- death lawsuit has been f iled in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of the three children orphaned by a fatal car crash in Newport Beach.

The civil lawsuit, f iled late last month, names Newport Beach resident Grace Elizabeth Coleman, the suspected drunk driver arrested in the collision, and her parents, James and Kelli Coleman, also of Newport Beach, as defendants.

Grace Coleman, 22, is also facing f ive felony counts: two of murder, two related to driving under the inf luence of alcohol and one for a hit- and- run collision, the Orange County district attorney’s office said. If convicted of all charges, she could face 34 years and eight months in prison.

Newport Beach police said they received a call about 7: 45 p. m. Dec. 8 of a crash near Newport Coast Drive and South Pelican Hill Road. Department spokeswoman Heather Rangel said in December that officers found that Coleman’s black Range Rover and a Nissan Versa had collided.

The driver of the Versa, Henry Saldana Mejia, 27, and his wife, Gabriela Andrade, 28, died. The Santa

Ana couple’s 1-, 4- and 5year- old daughters were in the back seat and taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries, police said.

The children have since been released from Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo and are being cared for by their aunt, Dayana Saldana Meija.

The district attorney’s off ice alleges that the crash happened when Coleman ran a red light. Prosecutors said in December that her blood- alcohol level was more than 0.20%.

Attorneys are accusing the Colemans of wrongful death and negligence. The lawsuit states that Grace Coleman had a duty to not improperly operate her vehicle and that her parents should have known that their daughter may drive under the inf luence, which attorneys say has occurred at least twice in Laguna Beach — once in June 2019 and again in August last year.

Grace Coleman was arrested on suspicion of DUI in August, Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said last month. She is facing misdemeanor DUI charges in that accident, prosecutors said.

Coleman is expected to appear for arraignment at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana on Jan. 27, according to jail and court records. She is in custody.