6 years in prison for deadly drunken crash

A southwest suburban man was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for having a blood-alcohol level more than double the legal limit when he crashed into a car last summer on Interstate 55, killing the other driver.

Miguel Ayala, 37, of Joliet, was sentenced to six years in prison for a fatal crash in June 2012, according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

Ayala was driving south on I-55 when he crashed into one of the cars involved in an accident that had happened about 10 seconds earlier at Lemont Road near Darien, according to prosecutors.

Ayala T-boned one of the crashed cars — pinning Edgar Ortiz inside. Ortiz’ car burst into flames, but an autopsy determined he died from internal injuries from the crash and was not burned alive, according to the state’s attorney’s office.

Ayala was arrested and it was later determined he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17 around the time of the crash, according to the state’s attorney’s office. The legal limit to drive in Illinois is 0.08.

Ayala pleaded guilty on Feb. 11, 2012, to one count of aggravated DUI causing death, the state’s attorney’s office said.