http://www.knbc.com/news/15928622/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news

Drunken Driver Who Killed 3, Fled From Police Sentenced

POSTED: 6:13 pm PDT April 18, 2008

FULLERTON, Calif. -- An Anaheim man convicted of murdering three people
while driving drunk and fleeing from police was sentenced Friday to 46
years to life in prison.

Angel Montero Avila, 44, was convicted Feb. 20 of three counts of second-
degree murder for a broadside collision that killed Guadalupe Ramirez and
Francisco Brito, both 39, and Francisco Martinez, 20, and seriously
injured two others, all in a Toyota Camry car-pooling to work for a night
shift at an Anaheim Hills manufacturing firm.

Avila was sentenced by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg Prickett.

On the night of Jan. 13, 2006, Avila stole two bottles of liquor from the
Diamante Bar in Fullerton and fled in his minivan while under the
influence of alcohol, said Farrah Emami of the Orange County District
Attorney's Office.

Avila ran a red light at Euclid Street and Orangethorpe Avenue, which
caught the attention of an officer who tried to pull him over, sparking
the chase, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy.

Avila made a fast exit off the freeway in Anaheim and lost control of his
minivan on the East Street ramp, crashing into a Toyota Camry that was
stopped at a red light.

Grundy said he charged Avila with murder, instead of vehicular
manslaughter, because of "the dangerousness to the community."

According to Gundy, Avila's attorney argued that the brakes on the car
failed, and that was the cause of the accident.

(snip)

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Good to see the law is finally handing out stiff sentences for DUIs that
kill. We need the same attitude for speeders and red light runners who
kill.