A drunken driver was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder for fleeing from the scene of a crash and colliding with a car in North Hills, killing a 42-year-old woman.
The San Fernando jury was the second to hear the murder charge against Estuardo Alvarado, stemming from the Feb. 19, 2017, crash that killed Sandra Duran.
The first jury to hear the case deadlocked on the murder count, but convicted the 47-year-old defendant of one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, driving with a 0.08 percent blood alcohol content and hit-and-run driving, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Alvarado was driving a 1999 Dodge Durango on Sepulveda Boulevard when he rear-ended a car, then sped off, drove through a red light and slammed into the victim’s Toyota Camry, according to Santiago.
Duran was pronounced dead at the scene.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice told the Los Angeles Daily News that “Department of Homeland Security databases indicate Mr. Alvarado has been removed to Mexico five times since 1998, most recently in 2011.”
Alvarado is facing a state prison term of 24 years to life in state prison, according to Santiago. Sentencing is scheduled for May 6 at the San Fernando courthouse.
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