VISTA, Calif. (CNS) – A man who drove under the influence, fled from police and caused the deaths of a woman and her 4-year-old daughter in a crash on a North County freeway was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in state prison.

Erick Arámbula, 25, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of DUI and evading authorities for the crash that killed Courteney Taylor, 29, and her daughter Amaya Taylor on April 23, 2023.

Prosecutors say Arámbula fled from state Fish and Wildlife officers on Old Highway 395 in Fallbrook just before the fatal crash, which occurred around 3:15 p.m.

Shortly after police ended the high-speed chase, Arambula’s pickup truck veered off Old Highway 395 and entered the southbound lanes of Interstate 15, where it crashed head-on into Taylor’s car, prosecutors said. Both victims died at the scene.

A GoFundMe page created last year by Taylor’s family said: “Everyone who has known Courteney has known her as a living angel. Amaya was the guiding light of our family.”

In a statement issued after the sentencing hearing, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office noted that 32 people died last year in San Diego County in 29 separate DUI-related crashes. So far this year, 20 people have died in 16 DUI crashes across the county.

“This defendant, who could have avoided the tragic outcome of this case, voluntarily drove under the influence of drugs and took the lives of an innocent mother and daughter,” said San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan. “These types of deaths are the most preventable, but people think they can get away with this dangerous behavior. The tragic lesson here is simple: don’t drink or do drugs and get behind the wheel.”

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