A 21-year-old alleged drunken driver pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony charges stemming from a crash in Silverado that killed a teenage friend.
Antonio Jesus Escamilla is charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence causing bodily injury and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or more causing bodily injury. He also faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of causing great bodily injury.
Escamilla was behind the wheel of a Honda Civic about 1:40 a.m. on Sept. 9, 2013, when he lost control of the car while southbound on Santiago Canyon Road, north of Silverado Canyon Road. The Honda careened into the opposite lanes of traffic, then into a dirt embankment, and rolled over several times, according to Deputy District Attorney Stephen Cornwell.
Killed in the crash was 16-year-old Marie Johnson, who was ejected from the right rear passenger seat, Cornwell said.
A group of other friends were in another Honda Civic whose driver was speeding along the road at speeds up to 65 to 70 mph in a 55-mph zone, Cornwell said. That car also crashed, he said, but no one was seriously hurt.
Both drivers claimed they saw a deer in the road just before in the crash, Cornwell said.
Escamilla’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .13 percent about 90 minutes afterward, Cornwell alleged. The legal limit for driving under the influence for motorists younger than 21 is .05.
Escamilla, who was released on is own recognizance after Cornwell argued for $50,000 bail, faces up to six years in prison if convicted. He’s due back in court on May 28 for a pretrial hearing.
— City News Service