SANTA ANA, Calif. (NEWSnet/AP) — A California woman with a history of convictions for driving under the influence has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for a crash that killed a pregnant woman and left her baby in critical condition.
Early this year, Courtney Pandolfi, 44, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as the case was headed for trial, Orange County Register reported Friday.
Prosecutors said Pandolfi was on a “drug cocktail” that included cocaine and methamphetamine in August 2020 when she drove an SUV onto a sidewalk in Anaheim, striking 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 delivered surgically and survived. The girl, Adalyn Rose, is now 3.
Pandolfi, of Garden Grove, was convicted of driving under the influence of drugs in 2008, 2015 and 2016. She received a warning, known as a "Watson advisement," that if she continued to drive under the influence and killed someone, she could be charged with murder.
Along with pleading guilty to the crash, Pandolfi admitted to driving while on a combination of drugs, including methamphetamine and morphine, in November 2019.
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