In California, DUI murder is one of the rarest of the DUI charges that involve a person’s death in a DUI accident. Most people are charged with either vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated or gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Generally, for a prosecutor to be able to prove DUI murder, the driver suspected of the crime must have had a previous DUI conviction on their record. This is because once convicted of a DUI, the person is told either by a judge, their probation officer, or while attending DUI school that if they are in an accident that kills another person, they can be charged with murder.
The Livermore Patch reports that an arraignment date has been set for a woman facing both murder and manslaughter charges in a DUI crash.
28-year-old Lauren April Davies had an arraignment set for August 18th. She is facing numerous charges stemming from a November 2017 crash that claimed the lives of two women.
According to the CHP, on the night before Thanksgiving 2017, Davis was driving a Kia Sorento. She drove off Stanley Boulevard and overturned several times, coming to rest on a set of railroad tracks.
At the time of the wreck, five other people were in the vehicle. 16-year-old Violet Campbell was partially ejected and was pronounced dead at the scene. 25-year-old Alexys ‘Lexy’ Garcia was fully ejected and died at the hospital a week following the accident.
Davis is facing charges of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter. She is also facing charges of three counts of causing injury while drunk driving by a person with previous convictions. Davis has two previous convictions of driving under the influence.
She pleaded not guilty to all charges in July 2018. She has been held without bail at the Rita Jail in Dublin.
