Man Sentenced For DUI Crash That Killed Pedestrian In East County

EL CAJON, CA — A man who drove under the influence of drugs and fatally struck a woman standing on a sidewalk in El Cajon was sentenced Thursday to nine years in state prison.

Darius Watts, 24, pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the July 27, 2022, death of Niurca Rios.

Rios, 20, was struck just before 9 p.m. on North Second Street near an onramp to Interstate 8.

After officers responded to the scene of the fatality, they received reports of a Hyundai Sonata stopped in the middle of the road on nearby Naranca Avenue.

Watts was found in the driver's seat of the car and arrested. Police said that along with front-end damage, a traffic signal was found hanging from Watts' vehicle, which was struck just after Rios was hit by the car.

At his sentencing hearing, which was attended by around 20 members of Rios' family, Watts apologized to the family and said he's "cried until I can't cry anymore" over the crash.

"I wish more than anything that the accident could be reversed and Niurca wouldn't have lost her life," Watts said. "When I am released from prison, I will still feel that neverending pain I feel now. It crushes me entirely that a precious life was lost."

— City News Service