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Steven Joel Berrios Maldonado was driving 27-year-old Karina Cruz-Camuy and her sons in a Gray Volkswagon Jetta while high on drugs, the police explained citing a blood test he took at the hospital.
Investigators determined Maldonado was going a minimum of 50.28 miles per hour in the marked 35 MPH zone on Wabank Road near Rabbit Hill Lane in Lancaster Township, when he he left the westbound lane "passing a vehicle on the left by driving into the oncoming lane and striking a vehicle head-on that was driving eastbound," as state in the updated release.
A third vehicle was also involved in the crash according to the initial report by the coroner's office, citing police at the scene.
The crash happened at 1:03 p.m. on Dec. 25, emergency dispatch said.
The coroner was called to the scene at 3:08 p.m. Cruz was found ejected from the front passenger seat with "significant trauma," Bieber said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:20 p.m. as Daily Voice previously reported. An autopsy on the morning of Dec. 26 revealed her cause of death to be multiple traumatic injuries and the manor to be accidental.
"Four other occupants of various vehicles were taken to Lancaster General for injuries," Manheim Township police announced in a release on Tuesday night, noting that "one of the occupants was a minor and later transported to Hershey Medical Center. The driver of the third vehicle was reportedly uninjured"
Maldonado was charged with the following according to the police release, court documents were not available at the time of publishing:
- Homicide by Vehicle while DUI.
- Homicide by Vehicle.
- Aggravated Assault by Vehicle (two counts).
- Aggravated Assault by Vehicle while DUI (two counts).
- Recklessly Endangering Another Person (five counts).
- DUI (two counts).
- Summary Traffic Violations (two counts).
He was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond as set by Magisterial District Judge Sponaugle during his preliminary arraignment on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
Karina's family continues to mourn their loss and post about her on social media.
She was survived by her sons and mom.
Click here to read our initial coverage.
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