A 23-year-old Temecula woman who was under the influence of prescription medication when she killed another motorist in a head-on Pauma Valley crash earlier this year pleaded guilty Thursday to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Alyssa Thielemann is slated to be sentenced Dec. 3 to six years in state prison for causing the Jan. 2 crash that killed 43-year-old Winchester resident Paula Napoli. In addition to the manslaughter count, she admitted an allegation of inflicting great bodily injury.
Deputy District Attorney David Uyar said Thielemann “had a number of various, prescription medications in her system,” which impaired her ability to drive the vehicle.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Thielemann tried to pass other vehicles on state Route 76 that night, then crashed her car head-on into Napoli’s oncoming 2002 Infiniti Q35 just east of Adams Drive.
Napoli died while being transported to a hospital. Her 44-year-old passenger was hospitalized for her injuries.
Thielemann was hospitalized with moderate injuries, then booked into county jail a few days after the crash.
–City News Service