Local News in Brief : Sun Valley Woman Sentenced for Injecting Fatal Drug Dose

A Sun Valley woman who gave her boyfriend a lethal injection of drugs during a party was sentenced Monday to three years in state prison for involuntary manslaughter and a concurrent four-year term for selling heroin.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Dana Senit Henry imposed the sentence on Tamara Bautista, 21, who pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 3. According to court records, Bautista admitted to detectives after her arrest in August that she injected David Gonzalez with a mixture of heroin and cocaine on July 24.

She entered the plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors under which a second-degree murder charge was dismissed.

A probation report said Bautista has a history of drug and alcohol abuse dating to 1981. But Bautista said that, at the time of the party, she and her boyfriend were planning to join a church and begin leading drug-free lives, the report said.

During sentencing, the judge said she was considering sending Bautista to a drug treatment center. However, Deputy Dist. Atty. Myron Jenkins argued successfully for the prison term, saying of Bautista, “At some point, she has to be subjected to punishment for her actions.”