SANTA ANA, California — A Southern California woman with a history of drunk driving convictions has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for a crash that killed a 23-year-old pregnant woman and left her baby in critical condition.
Courtney Pandolfi, 44, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year, just as the case was about to go to trial, the Orange County Register reported Friday.
Prosecutors said Pandolfi used a “drug cocktail” containing cocaine and methamphetamine when she drove her Jeep SUV onto a sidewalk in Anaheim in August 2020. standout Yesenia Aguilar, who was eight months pregnant. Aguilar’s husband, James Alvarez, was walking with her but was not injured.
Aguilar died, but her daughter was surgically delivered and survived. The girl, Adalyn Rose, is now 3 years old.
Pandolfi, of Garden Grove, was convicted of driving under the influence of drugs in 2008, 2015 and 2016. As a result, she was given a warning – known as a Watson advisory – that if she continued to drink and drive and killed someone, she could be charged with murder.
In addition to pleading guilty to the crash that killed Aguilar, Pandolfi also admitted in November 2019 to driving while taking a combination of drugs, including methamphetamine and morphine. She also acknowledged having and using illegal drugs in jail while awaiting trial, the Register reported.
After the sentencing, Alvarez held Adalyn Rose and said he believed his wife’s last thoughts were about their daughter.
‘She survived. I’ve survived it. So I got a second chance at life, and I’m going to do something good with it. I want to fight for the poor victims who lost someone in a tragic accident because of a drunk driver,” Alvarez said.