Woman sentenced to 6 years in fatal drugged-driving crash in Costa Mesa
An Irvine woman was sentenced Friday to six years in state prison after pleading guilty to three felonies in a 2016 drugged-driving crash in Costa Mesa that killed a 64-year-old man.
Anna Marie McPherson, 46, pleaded guilty during a pretrial hearing to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of child abuse and endangerment, according to Orange County Superior Court records.
Costa Mesa police said McPherson was driving a Mercedes-Benz SUV south along Newport Boulevard near Ford Road around 2:30 p.m. June 10, 2016, when she veered off the thoroughfare and hit Jorge Alcazar Arellano of Costa Mesa, who was on the sidewalk near the Travelodge motel.
Witnesses told police that the impact sent Arellano, a maintenance worker who was returning to the Travelodge, flying about 15 feet.
He was pronounced dead at Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana.
McPherson was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs. She was accused of having multiple prescription bottles in her vehicle.
Two children were in McPherson’s SUV at the time, prosecutors said. No one in the vehicle was hurt.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
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