SAN ANTONIO – A woman accused of driving drunk in a fatal crash pleaded guilty Monday in a case that’s nearing four years to resolve.
Mariana Campos-Jimenez is charged with intoxication manslaughter and was expected to go to trial this week but instead took a last-minute plea deal.
According to police, Campos-Jimenez was driving drunk and going the wrong way on Loop 1604 and Lockhill Selma Road in May 2020, when she crashed head-on with a vehicle driven by Gabriel Gallegos, 44.
The case has gone back and forth in the judicial process, including a plea deal last summer that the defendant withdrew.
But on Monday, Campos-Jimenez told 437th District Court Judge Joel Perez that she was guilty.
“The blood alcohol was twice the legal limit, and that I caused the accident that killed Mr. Gabriel Gallegos. And, I take full responsibility for my actions. And I want his family to know that I’m deeply and truly sorry,” Campos-Jimenez said to Perez.
Per the plea deal, Campos-Jimenez can be sentenced from a minimum of probation to a maximum of 12 years in prison.
Perez will decide the defendant’s fate when he sentences her fate on Tuesday.