The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that 45-year-old Margarito Angeles Vargas has been charged with DUI murder and hit-and-run after a crash in City Heights that killed a 19-month-old girl on Saturday.
Angeles Vargas was charged in San Diego Superior Court for the death of the child who was crossing Redwood Street near the intersection of Redwood and 39th Street.
Investigators say a Toyota 4Runner struck a little girl at approximately 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, September 24. Eyewitnesses to the incident said that Angeles Vargas fled the scene of the crash. An eyewitness was able to get the license number of Angeles Vargas’ vehicle to the police. He was found a short time later and taken into custody.
Angeles Vargas is not only facing the charges of DUI and second-degree murder but also the charges of gross-vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving with a revoked or suspended license, and possible sentencing enhancements due to a prior DUI conviction in 2016.
Under California law, if a driver has been previously convicted of DUI, they could face the charge of second-degree murder if they were to get into another DUI crash in which someone dies.
Angeles Vargas did not appear at his arraignment on Wednesday, September 28. It was rescheduled because the defendant was being monitored in an observational unit at the San Diego Central Jail facility.
