A judge on Monday sentenced a 39-year-old Edinburg resident to 15 years in prison after she admitted to driving drunk in 2020 before hitting and killing a 15-year-old girl and severely injuring her 14-year-old friend, court records indicate.
Maricela Escobar pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle; intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury; accident involving serious bodily injury or death; accident involving serious bodily injury; and driving while intoxicated, third or more.
Following Escobar’s admission of guilt, state District Judge Keno Vasquez sentenced Escobar to 15 years on the intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault charges and 10 years for each of the remaining years.
The sentences will run concurrently, court documents show.
Escobar hit and killed Edinburg resident Liza Cavazos and seriously injured Donna resident Santiago Tapia on Sept. 6, 2020 as the teens were walking a dog in the area of Owassa and Val Verde roads.
Escobar ran from the scene, but was apprehended shortly after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled her over in the area of Earling and Tower roads.
She told DPS that she was driving 50 mph in a 30 mph zone when she thought she had hit a dog.
According to DPS, Escobar said she drank several beers from a 12-pack hours before the crash.
Escobar has a history of driving drunk with three prior arrests.
