A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 21-years to life in prison for the murder of two after he crashed into them while driving under the influence. 

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced that Jose Manuel Lopez-Perez from Santa Rosa was sentenced after being convicted for second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. 

“No one driving a child to school in the morning should meet the terrible fate this family did. The selfish choice to drink and drive, after being convicted and sent to impaired driver education training, caused the tragic loss of two lives. This resolution ensures the longest period of incarceration possible for this repeat drunk driver, and should serve as a warning to anyone who considers similar conduct.”

– District Attorney Ravitch 

Around 7:45 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2017, Lopez-Perez crashed head-on into Estefania Soto’s sedan on Highway 12 near Agua Caliente Road. 

Soto, 27, was driving her 7-year-old daughter, Kaliyah Adkins to school when Lopez-Perez crossed the center line. 

Soto was instantly killed, while good Samaritans pulled Kaliyah out of the car and performed CPR until paramedics arrived about five minutes later. She was taken to Oakland Children’s Hospital where she died two days later. 

Around 11:45 p.m. the night before, Lopez-Perez had gotten off work. He then went to a friends house and drank beer in his truck for hours, Lopez-Perez told police. 

He also told police that he went to Safeway at some point to get more beer and was initially denied, which surveillance video showed the declined transaction around 5:58 a.m. — Alcohol sales are prohibited in California between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. 

Lopez-Perez was able to purchase alcohol after 6 a.m. and then returned to his friend’s house where he continued to drink. 

Around 7:40 a.m. Lopez-Perez left his friends house in order to take his daughter to school — He had driven about a mile before the collision occurred. 

According to a hospital drawn blood sample, his blood alcohol level was .17%.

Lopez had a prior DUI in 2013 after he crashed on Occidental Road. 

Following that conviction, a Superior Court Judge told Lopez-Perez, “driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is inherently dangerous to human life. If you continue to drive under the influence and as a result of your driving someone is killed, you can be charged with murder.”

This case was investigated by the Napa Area CHP office and Robyn Katz with the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and prosecuted by David Kim and Matt Hubley. Judge Robert Laforge presided over the case.

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