SANTA ANA — A 41-year-old man with a previous DUI conviction was found guilty Monday of second-degree murder in an alcohol-fueled crash in Santa Ana that killed his girlfriend.
Enrique A. Morales Murillo was driving a pickup truck when he crashed into a palm tree and a light pole about 2 a.m. April 21, 2024, near 800 S. Main St., prosecutors said. His girlfriend, 27-year-old Jocelyn Janet Campos of Paramount, was in the passenger seat and killed in the crash.
Murillo was southbound on Main Street driving with Campos and his friend, Juan Garcia in the back seat, when he accelerated up to about 82 mph as he passed Richland Street, prosecutors said in a trial brief. He lost control and veered off the street into the tree, light pole and business signs, prosecutors said.
The defendant and Campos were trapped in the truck and had to be freed by firefighters, prosecutors said. Garcia escaped major injury.
Murillo had a blood-alcohol level of .24, or three times the legal limit, and marijuana and methamphetamine in his system at the time of the crash, prosecutors said.
Murillo had a prior DUI conviction in Los Angeles County Feb. 23, 2014, and was warned then he could face a murder charge instead of manslaughter if he got into a DUI fatal crash, prosecutors said.
Murillo and his companions had gone to Parral Nightclub before the crash, prosecutors said.
Murillo was convicted of second-degree murder, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of .08% or more causing injury and driving under the influence of alcohol and drug while causing injury, all felonies.
Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury.
Murillo was scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 23.