Man Pleads Guilty To Carlsbad DUI Crash That Killed Pedestrian

VISTA, CA — A man who drove under the influence and fatally struck a pedestrian in Carlsbad pleaded guilty this week to charges that include gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Jose Manuel Zambrano Cruz faces up to nine years in state prison when he is sentenced for the Sept. 10, 2024, crash that killed 23-year-old Karla Guillen.

Police said that just after 12:30 a.m., a Volkswagen Jetta driven by Zambrano Cruz crashed into three parked cars along Las Palmas Drive, then struck Guillen as she exited her vehicle.

Guillen was pronounced dead at the scene.

Zambrano Cruz then fled the scene, according to police, who arrested him in the 6600 block of El Camino Real, just over a mile away from the crash scene.

Along with the manslaughter count, Zambrano Cruz pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of DUI causing injury and hit-and-run causing death.

— City News Service