A drunken driver who struck and killed a motorcyclist in 2009 near the Sunset Cliffs Boulevard exit of Interstate 8 \u2014 and then fled the scene with the motorcycle still clinging to her vehicle \u2014 was sentenced to 15 years in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter. Claudia Gissela Herrera, 28, learned her fate in San Diego Superior Court on Oct. 14. The victim, Eric Enockson, 36, of San Diego, was ultimately run over by as many as five other cars around 2 a.m. that Oct. 17 morning, according to traffic investigators. Enockson died at the scene. Herrera, who continued driving away after the accident, was arrested on Nimitz and West Point Loma boulevards after officers found parts of the motorcycle imbedded in her minivan. Ten of Enockson\u2019s family members listened last week as Herrera was told she would have to serve 85 percent of her prison term \u2014 essentially 13 years \u2014 before she can be paroled. Superior Court Judge Charles Gill denied probation and also fined Herrera more than $10,200. Herrera admitted to drinking four strong alcoholic drinks at a Mission Valley nightclub, but insisted to two passengers she was capable of driving, according to court documents. Herrera struck the motorcycle while driving close to 100 mph, and then carried it another three-quarters of a mile. Herrera abruptly stopped on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, dislodging the motorcycle. Her friends then reportedly jumped out of the vehicle before she took off again. “You belong in prison,” Enockson\u2019s brother, John, told Herrera in court. “Fifteen years is not enough. She was speeding down a foggy road. She hit my brother. Did she stop? No. She fled the scene. “I understand she was a drunk,” John Enockson said. “Her license had been suspended. She shouldn\u2019t have been driving.” Herrera, of Rancho Penasquitos, was driving her parents\u2019 Astro minivan, but her driver\u2019s license was suspended in 2008 because of failure to pay fines for traffic violations, according to her probation report. Herrera was given credit for already serving 363 days in jail. On the morning of the accident, a California Highway Patrol officer found Herrera talking to a man on a bicycle, who she had flagged down on Nimitz Boulevard. She asked the bicyclist and the officer for directions to Interstate 15. The officer said he noticed Herrera\u2019s slurred speech and detected alcohol on her breath. Herrera dropped her car keys when the officer asked for them, and claimed another person had been driving the minivan. Herrera\u2019s blood-alcohol level was 0.14 percent, which is almost double the legal limit. Eric Enockson, who worked at a medical laboratory, was initially alive after the crash and tried to crawl off the freeway before being struck by other passing cars, witnesses said. “I\u2019m sorry for the pain and suffering I caused,” Herrera told the courtroom. “I have said countless prayers for him and his family. I was horrified when I learned what happened. “Try to find in your heart to forgive me,” Herrera said to the victim\u2019s family members. “I wish I could take it all back.” Herrera pleaded guilty Aug. 25 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, leading prosecutors to drop a second-degree murder count. A second-degree murder charge could have drawn Herrera a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A drunken driver who struck and killed a motorcyclist in 2009 near the Sunset Cliffs Boulevard exit of Interstate 8 \u2014 and then fled the scene with the motorcycle still clinging to her vehicle \u2014 was sentenced to 15 years in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter. Claudia Gissela Herrera, 28, learned her fate in San […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Drunken driver lands 15 years in manslaughter case","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11593,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-294487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-no-images","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}