According to a recent report appearing on the KTLA website yesterday, an Irvine man has now been charged with DUI murder for his role in a fatal crash in Irvine last month.
In a statement, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said that at approximately 4:00 a.m. on September 27, 2021, the suspect, 21-year-old Luis Marcial Diaz crashed into the vehicle of a 61-year-old woman.
Investigators say that Diaz blew through a red light at the intersection of Sand Canyon Road and Irvine Center Drive and crashed into the woman’s car. Paramedics declared her dead at the scene.
Court documents show that the crash happened mere hours after Diaz was released from an area hospital after being treated for a fentanyl overdose.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer believes that even after his release from the hospital, Diaz took additional drugs, leading to the fatal crash.
This is not the first time that Diaz has faced the charge of DUI. In 2019, Diaz was arrested for driving with a blood-alcohol level of over .08 percent in Huntington Beach. In that incident, he was also charged with possession of nitrous oxide without a valid license. Diaz pleaded not guilty in that incident.
An Orange County judge has set Diaz’s bail at $1 million. If convicted of the charge of DUI murder, he faces between 15 years and life in prison.
