SANTA ANA, Calif. — A Southern California woman with a history of convictions for driving under the influence has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for a crash that killed a 23-year-old pregnant woman and left her baby in critical condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Courtney Pandolfi, 44, pleaded guilty to second degree murder earlier this year just as the case was headed for trial, the Orange County Register reported Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors said Pandolfi was on a \u201cdrug cocktail\u201d that included cocaine and methamphetamine in August 2020 when she drove her Jeep SUV onto a sidewalk in Anaheim. striking Yesenia Aguilar, who was eight months pregnant. Aguilar\u2019s husband, James Alvarez, was walking with her but was not injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aguilar died, but her daughter was surgically delivered and survived. The girl, Adalyn Rose, is now 3 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pandolfi, of Garden Grove, was convicted of driving under the influence of drugs in 2008, 2015 and 2016. As a result, she received a warning \u2014 known as a Watson advisement \u2014 that if she continued to drive under the influence and killed someone she could be charged with murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with pleading guilty to the crash that killed Aguilar, Pandolfi also admitted to driving while on a combination of drugs, including methamphetamine and morphine, in November 2019. She also acknowledged possessing and using illegal drugs in jail while awaiting trial, the Register reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking after the sentencing, Alvarez held Adalyn Rose and said he believed his wife’s last thoughts were about their daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe survived. I survived. So I was given a second chance in life, and I\u2019m going to do something good out of it. I want to fight for those poor victims who lost someone in a tragic accident because of a drunk driver,” Alvarez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n