Drunk driver charged with murder in rare accident scenario
California law is not exceedingly clear about how to treat an unborn baby that dies in a car accident. In fact, if a baby dies in a mother’s womb due to a car crash, the at-fault driver may not be guilty of manslaughter because babies are not seen as “living persons” until after they have been born. In a recent case, though, a very peculiar set of facts may lead to murder charges for a drunk driver that caused a horrific accident to unfold.
A North Hills resident, who has been convicted of drunk driving three times in the past, caused a head-on collision with another vehicle. Inside the other vehicle was a pregnant woman. Immediately following the auto collision, the tragedy of the accident induced the woman into labor. Sadly, the baby girl that was born did not survive.
Because the baby actually came into the world, and then died as a result of her car accident injuries, the drunk driver in this case has been charged with murder. The 25-year-old man faces charges of felony level gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, murder, DUI causing injury, driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 and causing injuries within a decade of two prior DUI offenses.
According to a passerby who witnessed the horrific accident, the mother was “yelling in hysterics” after the collision. She was crying for her baby, and the woman saw that the mother’s stomach was bruised. The mother was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she gave birth. Sadly, the baby did not survive.
California residents who are injured in car accidents — and family members of those who die in such accidents — caused by drunk drivers may have strong claims to seek financial compensation in civil court. Whether it’s a Man Charged With Murder After Baby is Born, Dies Following Car Crash,” Patrick Healy, June 01, 2017