A jury convicted a Spring Valley man Friday for crashing his car while under the influence of drugs, killing one of his passengers.
The panel deliberated for about two days before finding Rene Ruiz, 30, guilty in the 2018 death of Melanie Alexandra Feliciano, 24.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Ruiz drove a 1999 Mercedes-Benz sedan that veered off eastbound state Route 94 for unknown reasons around 2 p.m. on Sept. 17.
The vehicle crossed onto a dirt shoulder near Sweetwater Springs Boulevard, hit a guardrail, became airborne and overturned, CHP public affairs Officer Travis Garrow said.
After tumbling across the median, the car came to rest on its wheels on the center shoulder of the westbound lanes, its roof crushed.
At that point, Ruiz fled from the crumpled vehicle with a female companion who had been in the front passenger seat. They left Feliciano trapped inside the wreckage.
Feliciano at the time of the crash was seated, unrestrained, on the car’s center console. Doctors pronounced her dead at a local hospital.
CHP personnel and sheriff’s deputies searched the area, finding Ruiz and the other passenger hiding in a canyon. Both had suffered serious injuries.
Ruiz faced murder charges due to a prior DUI conviction from 2011. He’s slated to be sentenced Dec. 1.
– City News Service
