DUI Driver Sentenced After Killing Woman In Cathedral City Crash

CATHEDRAL CITY, CA — An unlicensed motorist who killed a woman and injured three others in a driving under the influence collision in Cathedral City on Christmas Day 2023 was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in state prison.

Angel Gabriel Torres Hernandez of Cathedral City pleaded guilty last week to DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, two counts of reckless driving and a sentence-enhancing great bodily injury allegation under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors dropped several related counts against Hernandez.

During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the stipulated sentence.

According to the Cathedral City Police Department, the deadly wreck occurred shortly after 11 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2023.

Hernandez was driving northbound on Date Palm Drive when he veered into southbound lanes while attempting to make a turn onto Varner Road, plowing into two southbound cars because he was heavily intoxicated, police said.

One of the drivers, identified in court documents only as "Enma C.," was injured in the crash and pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Occupants of the other vehicle, two women and a man — "A.B.," "J.Z." and "E.S." — suffered minor to moderate injuries, according to investigators.

The defendant fled the scene but was apprehended minutes later without incident by patrol officers.

Hernandez had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.