The Coast News reports that a woman who drove while under the influence of alcohol and crashed her car off of the I-15 Freeway in Bonsall, killing her 5-year-old daughter and injuring two more of her children pleaded guilty to the charge of DUI manslaughter, child endangerment, and several other felony charges.
Investigators say that on July 14, 2021 at approximately 2:30 a,m., Kapri Raven Coleman (29) lost control of her 2009 Hyundai Genesis, veering off of Interstate 15. The crash caused two of her daughters, ages five and three, to be ejected from the vehicle. Neither girl was wearing restraints or in a car seat at the time of the crash.
Although emergency crews were quick to respond to the horrific crash, the five-year-old girl died at the scene.
The two surviving children, the three-year-old girl and her 1-year-old brother, were airlifted to Rady Children’s Hospital in critical condition. A spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol said that Coleman was also taken to the hospital. She was released the following day, arrested, and booked into county jail.
Toxicology tests indicated that Coleman had a blood alcohol level of .16 percent – twice the legal limit of .08 percent. Lab tests revealed that other illegal narcotics were also present in Coleman’s blood at the time of the fatal crash.
Initially, Coleman was initially charged with murder for her daughter’s death and she pleaded guilty to the charge. A few months later, she was granted a motion to withdraw her guilty plea and agreed to a stipulated 18-year prison sentence. Prosecutors later charged her with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI, and three counts of child endangerment. Coleman pleaded guilty as part of the plea agreement.
On Wednesday, November 29, Coleman was sentenced to immediately begin serving the agreed 18 years in state prison.
