A 27-year-old Santa Ana man pleaded guilty on Thursday, March 20, and was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison for a drunken-driving crash that killed a woman in Tustin.
Gerardo Joaquin Garcia Lopez pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other charges.
Lopez killed Rezvan Hekmat, 67, of Laguna Hills and injured a passenger in her vehicle, according to court records.
Tustin police were called about the crash around 5 p.m. on June 4, 2023, at Barranca Parkway and Tustin Ranch Road.
Lopez ran a red light while going west on Barranca and slammed into the vehicle Hekmat was driving, causing both vehicles to bounce off other vehicles, police have said.
Lopez was hospitalized and then arrested.
Lopez had a blood-alcohol level of 0.41, more than five times the legal limit, and was driving faster than 65 mph, according to the criminal complaint.