EDINBURG — The sister of an 18-year-old pregnant woman who died last year along with her unborn child addressed the man convicted of driving drunk and killing them both, saying in court Monday that despite his prison term, at least he can still talk to his family.
“He can speak to his family without any worry in the world … and I’m left speaking to a grave,” Laura Perez said through tears.
Edinburg resident Carlos Santiago Rodriguez, 45, received a 23-year prison sentence Monday.
Rodriguez received 20 years for both accident involving death charges, 10 years for accident involving serious bodily injury and another 10 for tampering with evidence.
The sentences will run concurrently, meaning they will be served at the same time instead of consecutively.
He also received an additional three years for a previous probated 10-year sentence he was serving at the time of Lorena Perez and her unborn son Alexander Jay Briseno’s death, which is tacked onto the two-decade sentence.
Rodriguez, who reached a plea deal with prosecutors, entered his guilty plea on June 27.
After Rodriguez’s sentencing, Perez’s sister stood before him to deliver her impact statement.
“The first day of August of 2021 was the day my life died,” she said in Spanish, crying.
Laura said she was going to take her sister a gas canister after she found out she had run out of gas when Rodriguez struck her.
“My sister was left with her bones broken, they couldn’t move her,” she said. “I don’t know why the coward didn’t stop, he left running.”
According to Laura, Lorena loved driving in her vehicle. She said Rodriguez took that and more from her.
She added that her nephew would’ve been 1 year old today but Rodriguez took his right to live from his only family.
“The only thing I ask for is justice for my mother and my nephew,” she said.
At around 9:35 p.m. that day, Lorena and an unidentified woman stood by their vehicles as they poured gas at a station located on North Alamo Road, south of 17 1/2 Road when a Chevy Silverado traveling south hit them, according to the initial news release.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said Rodriguez fled the scene and concealed, destroyed or altered the deployed airbags and license plate of his vehicle in order to hinder the DPS investigation.
Doctors attempted to save the baby’s life by performing a cesarean section but were unsuccessful, authorities have said.
During the sentencing, state District Judge Noe Gonzalez made it a point to let Rodriguez know he had already served five years and seven months for his probated sentence stemming from his previous DWI charge before he killed Perez and her child.
Rodriguez, who turned himself in after fleeing and after consulting with his family and wife, has remained in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a total of $3 million in bonds since his Aug. 3 arrest.
