Man Switches Plea to Guilty in 2 Drunk Driving Deaths

A Monterey Park man has pleaded guilty to running down and killing a San Fernando man and his 2-year-old daughter while driving drunk.

Fabian Campos Perez, 26, who was in San Fernando Superior Court on Thursday to have a trial date set, changed his plea from innocent to guilty on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Under a plea bargain arrangement, Perez would be sentenced Wednesday to seven years in state prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jacquelyn P. Lacey said. He had faced a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

Perez and a friend were driving east in the 700 block of Glenoaks Boulevard on the evening of Aug. 18 when his van slammed into a car parked in front of the home of Jose Hernandez.

Hernandez, 41, was in the yard, cleaning a walkway with a leaf blower, and his young daughter, Gloria, was playing nearby. Perez’s van careened over the sidewalk, first striking the child and then plowing into Hernandez, who was pinned against his house and killed instantly, police said. The child died two days later of massive head injuries.

According to police, Perez had been drinking beer at a friend’s house after selling shoes at a San Fernando swap meet prior to the accident.

Perez was caught and held by dozens of neighbors, who poured out of their homes when they heard the crash. Some pulled the van away from Hernandez in an unsuccessful attempt to save his life.