A man who drove drunk and crashed into a car in Pomona last year, killing three women and injuring two others while they were on their way home from a baby shower, was sentenced to 30 years to life in state prison on Thursday, Sept. 18.
Victor Siharath, 37, earlier this month had taken a plea deal and pleaded no contest to three counts of murder and one count of driving under the influence causing injury, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials said.
Siharath was driving a Toyota 4Runner eastbound on Phillips Road about 11 p.m. on March 2, 2024, when he ran a red light and plowed into a Toyota Corolla heading northbound on White Avenue, pushing the sedan into a light pole before it came to rest against a wall, Pomona police spokeswoman Aly Mejia said.
Alejandra Olaez Gomez, 33, of Pomona, her sister-in-law Yesenia Ochoa Olaez, 33, of Pomona, and a family friend, Lorena Morales, 58, of Montclair were killed, police said. Gomez’s then-12-year-old daughter and Morales’ husband, Juan Garcia, were injured.
Garcia was driving the Corolla with Morales in the front seat. The two sisters-in-law and Olaez’s daughter were in back seats.
The victims were on their way home from a baby shower for a niece of the Morales’ in Moreno Valley.
Siharath was arrested at the scene and has remained behind bars since.
At the time he was charged, then-District Attorney George Gascon said Siharath had a previous DUI conviction in 2014 in San Bernardino County, when he was given a legal warning that if he drove drunk again and caused a death he could be charged with murder.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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