Pelham resident Bethzy Higueros, age 23, was sentenced to one to three years in prison on Wednesday, April 5 for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed two of her friends in Mamaroneck in April 2021, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office announced.
On the day of the crash, April 11, 2021, around 2:40 a.m., Higueros had been driving over 80 mph on Boston Post Road (Route 1) in Mamaroneck with the two passengers in the car when she drove through a red light and crashed into a utility pole.
As a result of the crash, both passenger side doors were sheared off the vehicle, which caught on fire.
New Rochelle resident Veronica Diaz Ayala, age 20, died at the scene of the crash. The second victim, 19-year-old New Rochelle resident Itzel Oliveros, was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx and later died on June 6, 2021.
On the night of the crash, Higueros, who was 21 at the time, was found to have had a blood alcohol content of .17 and an expired driver's permit.
She was arrested by the Town of Mamaroneck Police Department on Dec. 9, 2021, after a lengthy investigation and pleaded guilty to the following charges on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022:
- First-degree vehicular manslaughter;
- Driving while intoxicated.
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah commented on the crash, saying, "The defendant’s decision to drive while intoxicated caused the tragic death of two young victims who were friends of the defendant."
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