Woman involved in McKee Road crash that killed 2 takes plea deal

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — She didn’t cause the crash, but Viridiana Rojas was allegedly driving impaired on Highway 99 when a car occupied by three sisters collided with her pickup in March of last year.

The car burst into flames, killing two of its occupants and badly burning the third. The sisters had been trying to get away from two men who wrongly accused them of theft, police said.

On Friday, Rojas pleaded no contest to a “wet reckless” charge and was sentenced to a year of probation. Misdemeanor DUI charges were dismissed.

A wet reckless conviction results in lesser penalties than a DUI, but is considered as a prior DUI offense for any future cases involving driving under the influence.

Prosecutors say Rojas’ probation terms include attending an alcohol education program, enrolling in DUI school, not driving with any measurable amount of alcohol or drugs in her system and giving a blood, breath or urine test at the request of any probation or peace officers to determine blood-alcohol content.

Rojas told police she visited friends in Bakersfield and was driving back to Santa Paula when the crash occurred. She said she drank a single White Claw hard seltzer the night before, according to court documents.

She refused to give a breath sample. Her blood was drawn more than two hours after the crash and testing revealed her blood-alcohol content at 0.07%, just below the legal limit of 0.08%, documents said.

Killed in the March 4, 2023, crash were Karime Duarte, 21, and Jennifer Duarte, 15 . Diana Ponce, 23, was injured.

Two men — Tevin Brandt and Gustavo Montoya — are facing charges of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving, accused of chasing the sisters under the mistaken belief they had Brandt’s cellphone.

The men drove separate vehicles when they arrived at the sisters’ location after Brandt used a device to track his phone. Police said they confronted the sisters and a chase ensued.

The sisters’ vehicle came to the end of McKee Road, where it “launched onto Highway 99” and the crash occurred, documents said. Brandt’s phone was later found in another vehicle.

Brandt and Montoya are due back in court next month.

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