La Mesa

A judge placed a drunken driver whose negligence killed the wife of a Sheriff’s Department commander on five years’ probation with credit for eight months spent in custody.

San Diego Superior Court Judge J. Richard Haden put strict conditions on Darvis Edward Marone, 26, who formerly worked as a janitor in a Santee transmission shop.

Marone pleaded guilty June 30 to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the March 19 death of Susan Watson, 41, wife of Sgt. Norm Watson, a commander at the Pine Valley sheriff’s station.

Haden ordered Marone to attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous three times a week and ordered him not to drive during the next five years.

He also ordered Marone not to frequent bars or places where alcohol is served and to take Antabuse if necessary.

Marone had just returned from 2 1/2 months at Chino State Prison, where he had been undergoing psychological testing. The San Diego County Probation Department recommended a four-year term, and he could have received eight years.

Marone accepted the terms of probation and told the judge he will not drive.

His attorney, Allen Bloom, said Marone drank three beers while helping a friend move before the fatal collision off Interstate 8 in which Marone hit a center divider and his car hit the Watson car traveling on La Suvida Drive, a parallel road.

A court document indicated Marone’s IQ is 75, which Bloom made reference to in court by saying Marone is “a simple man.”

Norm Watson was not at the hearing. Marone’s parents watched the sentencing and expressed relief at the outcome.