Mom Pleads Guilty, Gets 18 Years For Daughter's Death In DUI Crash

VISTA, CA — A woman who drove under the influence and crashed her car off Interstate 15 in Bonsall, killing her 5-year-old daughter and critically injuring her two toddlers, pleaded guilty Wednesday to several felony counts and was immediately sentenced to 18 years in state prison.

Kapri Raven Coleman, 29, was initially charged with murder in connection with the July 14, 2021, crash.

Coleman's 2009 Hyundai Genesis veered off the freeway shortly before 2:30 a.m. that day, ejecting two of her daughters, ages 5 and 3. The older girl died at the scene.

Paramedics airlifted the surviving girl and her 1-year-old brother to Rady Children's Hospital, where they were admitted in critical condition, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Coleman was also hospitalized, then booked into county jail the following day.

Prosecutors alleged her blood-alcohol-content was around .16% after the crash -- twice the legal driving limit in California -- and she tested positive for other drugs in her system.

She pleaded guilty Wednesday to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI, and child endangerment counts.

Coleman also previously pleaded guilty last year, but was granted a motion to withdraw that plea a few months later. At that time, she had also agreed to a stipulated 18-year prison term.

— City News Service