Man Sentenced For DUI Crash In Ramona That Killed Woman

EL CAJON, CA — A man who drove drunk, killed another driver in Ramona by crashing head-on into the other vehicle, then fled the scene, was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in state prison.

Abel Luna Garcia, 27, was sentenced Thursday in connection with the Nov. 25, 2023, crash that killed 44-year-old Andrea Ortiz.

The 7:30 a.m. crash happened on state Route 78, west of Weekend Villa Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Ortiz was headed west when a Ford F-350 crossed into her lane of traffic. The impact sent Ortiz's Ford Edge down an embankment and she died at the scene.

The CHP said that after the crash, the driver of the F-350 abandoned the truck at the crash scene and ran.

Garcia was arrested later at his Ramona home. He pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, with an allegation of fleeing the scene following the commission of the offense.

— City News Service