Man gets prison for DUI crash that killed 2 teens

VISTA

A man who was driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he crashed into a speeding car four years ago at an Escondido intersection, killing two 19-yearolds in the other vehicle, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly eight years in state prison.

Francisco Andres Alvarez, 31, pleaded guilty to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury for the March 25, 2018, crash that killed Brandon Noe Contreras and Ana Maria Lira. He was sentenced in Vista Superior Court to seven years and eight months in prison.

Prosecutors said Alvarez had alcohol, marijuana and cocaine in his system. The collision occurred about 11:30 p.m. at Ash Street and El Norte Parkway.

According to police and prosecutors, Alvarez ran a red light in his Dodge Charger and T-boned the victims' 2006 Ford Mustang, which was traveling through the intersection at more than 85 mph. Contreras, who was driving, was thrown from the car and landed in a yard.

He died at the scene, as did Lira, who was riding in a back seat. A second passenger, a boy who was 15 years old at the time, sustained life-threatening injuries, though he survived and testified in court during a preliminary hearing about seven months after the crash.

At that October 2018 hearing, Escondido police Officer Tyler Songer testified that data taken from Alvarez's car showed his Charger was traveling 51 mph — 16 miles over the speed limit on Ash Street— less than a second before slamming into the Mustang. Data from the Mustang showed it was traveling at 87 mph, nearly double the 45 mph speed limit on El Norte Parkway.

Police arrested Alvarez about two months after the crash. He posted bail and has been out of custody for the past four years.

A judge ruled Wednesday that he could remain out of custody until an appeals process is completed before serving his sentence.