Suspected DUI driver charged with felony murder after Hwy 101 crash

Officials from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office announced Friday that Kendra Cordova, 34, has been charged with a felony count of murder following a deadly DUI crash on Highway 101 earlier this month.

On Sept. 8, Cordova was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 101 north of Los Alamos, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officers say she crashed into another vehicle just north of Santa Maria Way, killing 53-year-old Santa Maria resident Alma Teresa Alcorta Del Lazaro.

• RELATED: CHP: Santa Maria woman arrested for DUI after wrong-way deadly crash

CHP says that the collision also caused major injuries to the passenger in Del Lazaro's vehicle, which the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office identified as 63-year-old Cecilio Camacho Lazaro.

Authorities say Cordova was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.

Because of this, she faces an additional three years added to her sentence if convicted.

Cordova was arrested on Thursday by Santa Maria CHP and remains in Santa Barbara County Jail without bail. She will be arraigned on Sept. 30 in Department 9 of the Santa Maria Superior Court.