Driver Pleads Guilty To DUI Crash That Killed Mother And 4-Year-Old

VISTA, CA — A man who drove under the influence, fled from police, and caused the deaths of a woman and her 4-year-old daughter in a North County freeway crash pleaded guilty Tuesday to DUI and evading police charges.

Erick Arambula, 25, is expected to be sentenced next month to 12 years in state prison for the crash that killed 29-year-old Courteney Taylor and her 4-year-old daughter Amaya Taylor on April 23, 2023.

Prosecutors say Arambula fled from state Fish and Wildlife officers on Old Highway 395 in Fallbrook just prior to the fatal crash.

Shortly after police terminated the high speed pursuit, Arambula's pickup veered off Old Highway 395 and onto the southbound lanes of Interstate 15, where it crashed head-on into Taylor's car, prosecutors said.

Arambula remains in jail without bail following his pleas to charges of DUI causing injury and evading an officer causing injury or death.

A GoFundMe page created last year by Taylor's family read, "Everyone who has ever met Courteney has known her as a living angel. Amaya was our family's guiding light."

— City News Service