Earnesto Nava Herrera convicted of murder and other charges in connection with traffic collision that killed 14-year-old in November 2021
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office announced on Thursday that a jury has found Earnesto Nava Herrera guilty of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit and run causing death, driving while under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily injury, and driving on a suspended license.
On the evening of Mar. 27, 2021, Herrera was driving while drunk, collided with a fence, knocked over a tree, and fled the scene by driving in the wrong direction on the Highway 101 Tefft Street off-ramp state San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
While driving in the wrong direction on the off-ramp, an oncoming vehicle narrowly avoided a head-on collision with Herrera and Herrera accelerated northbound on Highway 101 in the wrong direction detail San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
According to the San Luis Obispo District Attorney's Office, Herrara collided head-on with another vehicle, killing a 14-year-old child and injuring two other people in the vehicle before fleeing the scene on foot.
An hour after the fatal collision, Herrera was located by a California Highway Patrol helicopter using forward-facing infrared technology crawling near the freeway explain San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
Herrera was recorded as having a blood alcohol level of 0.164 approximately 2.5 hours after the second collision state San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
“This is a terrible, yet completely avoidable tragedy,” said Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth. “As this incident so heartbreakingly illustrates, driving while impaired puts every life on the roadway in peril. We are committed to the aggressive prosecution of those driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in our community and will charge murder when appropriate. We thank the jury for their focused attention and recognize the psychological impact of serving on a case as tragic as this.”
Herrera faces life in prison at his sentencing hearing scheduled for Mar. 5, 2024 state San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
