A motorist who drove the wrong way on Interstate 15 near Mira Mesa, causing an early morning head-on crash that killed two of five family members in the other car, pleaded guilty Wednesday gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing great bodily injury.
Shane Gerald McDonald, 22, is expected to be sentenced to 13 years and eight months in prison on May 4.
Authorities said Rodolfo de la Torre, 55, and Teresa Esparza Hernandez, 84, both of Escondido, were killed when a black Audi driven by McDonald slammed into their Honda sedan about 3 a.m. last May 2, south of Mercy Road.
De la Torre was driving south in an I-15 express lane when the Audi, heading north in their lane, hit the Honda head-on, according to the California Highway Patrol. Three other family members in the back seat of the Honda suffered major injuries.
The victims were on their way to the Tijuana airport to attend a wedding in Mexico.
McDonald’s attorney, Cole Casey, said during a previous hearing that McDonald entered the express lane on a new ramp that he was not familiar with and drove the wrong way.
Casey said McDonald is from Guam, where freeways and on-ramps don’t exist.
Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright said McDonald admitted to a CHP officer at the hospital that he had too much to drink that night. The defendant’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .14 percent an hour after the crash.
Bright said the collision occurred at freeway speed and the defendant’s car did not leave any brake marks.
Gavin Loy testified that he was driving southbound on I-15 on his way to work when he saw McDonald’s Audi going the wrong way and crash into the victims’ car.
“It seemed head-on, and it was horrific,” Loy testified.
Loy said McDonald got out of his car and “smelled like alcohol and wanted to get away,” but Loy and another witness told him to sit down.
McDonald told officers that he had been to a party in the Del Cerro area the night before, where he had “more than three beers and two shots of vodka,” according to court testimony.
–City News Service
