Coroner Identifies California Girls Killed By Drunk Driver

Otay Mesa, CA- Police have identified the two five year-old girls who were killed when a minivan plunged into the San Diego County Reservoir.

The girls have been identified as Giuliana Figueroa of La Mesa and Lesette Hernandez Silva of Chula Vista.

Arlene Anna Hernandez was driving a Kia minivan east on Otay Lakes Road when she lost control of the vehicle, tumbled down the embankment, plunged into the Otay Reservoir, and landed on its roof around 6 p.m. Sunday. Hernandez, and her male passenger, Eric Figueroa, Giuliana’s father, were able to escape, but the two girls were strapped in the back seat and drowned.

“Due to Hernandez’s level of intoxication, she lost control of the Kia,” according to a CHP officer.

Border Patrol Agents and witnesses helped extricate the two girls and performed CPR until emergency crews arrived. They were flown to local hospital where they were pronounced dead.

Hernandez was charged with DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter and child cruelty. She is in the Colinas Women’s Correctional Facility on $400,000 bond.

Drunk drivers rarely consider the impact they can have on others when they get behind the wheel. Though a large number of drunken drivers don’t cause car accidents, they still face serious criminal charges.

When a person is arrested for intoxicated driving they are advised to contact a DUI attorney to help them with their case. When it is a simple DUI that hasn’t harmed another, the courts may allow the charges to be reduced or give the offender a lenient sentence.