A 56-year-old Anaheim man will serve 15 years to life in prison for murder after he hit a 6-year-old girl with his vehicle while driving drunk in Fullerton.
Maximino Delgado Lagunas, a painter, struck the girl as he was leaving a job site, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
At the time, his blood alcohol level was .22%, almost three times the legal limit of .08%.
“Lagunas lost control of his vehicle, drove onto the opposite sidewalk, hitting 6-year-old Grace Aguilar and eventually a parked car. Grace died as a result of her injuries,” the release said.
Lagunas was convicted of second-degree murder in June.
He had previously been convicted of DUI in 2015, when he had been warned that killing someone while driving under the influence can result in a murder charge.
“Little kids playing on a sidewalk shouldn’t have to worry about being hit and killed by drunk drivers,” said District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “A six-year-old girl is dead because someone who had already been warned about the dangers of drinking and driving ignored those warnings and got behind the wheel drunk. Every time someone drives under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they take the risk that they could kill someone. This time it was a six-year-old girl named Grace who was just playing on the sidewalk.”