Victor Siharath DUI driver runs red light and kills 3 Pomona, California women, Yesenia Olaez, Alejandra Olaez and Lorena Morales as he now faces potential life behind bars.
Three California families have been left reeling after a drunk driver ran a red light, killing three women who were returning from a relative’s baby shower.
Released surveillance footage (see below) from a nearby Pomona home showed the moment 36-year-old Victor Siharath drunkenly slamming his vehicle into the womens’ car.
Siharath ran a red light at the intersection of White Avenue and Phillips Boulevard in his SUV, striking the vehicle at full speed.
Swift legal consequences
Killed were Yesenia Olaez, 33, her sister-in-law, Alejandra Olaez, 33 and the driver of the vehicle, Lorena Morales.
There were two other passengers in the vehicle, Juan Manuel ‘Jaime’ Garcia, Morales’ husband, and 12-year-old Naomi Olaez, Alejandra’s daughter. Both are expected to survive.
Authorities said that two of the five died at the scene, and one more died after being taken to hospital.
Siharath was the sole occupant of the vehicle involved.
He was arrested for felony DUI after officers on the scene determined that he had been driving while impaired.
It was announced on Tuesday that Siharath was charged with three counts of murder and driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury.
Offered DA George Gascón in part, ‘Those who choose to jeopardize themselves and others by driving under the influence will face swift legal consequences. There is nothing that can bring back the countless lives lost to speeding and drunk driving, but our office will continue to hold those responsible.’
Life behind bars if convicted
The DUI crash was still being processed by the victims’ families.
‘All the family is heartbroken, it’s a double loss tragedy right here,’ Yesenia Olaez’s sister Blanca Gonzalez said to KTLA 5. ‘Everybody is not okay right now.’
‘There’s nothing more I could say in regards to her,’ Gonzalez said about her sister. ‘She was the best sister … and the best person in our family.’
Yesenia Olaez, a dental assistant, was in the process of adopting her 11-year-old nephew in an attempt to remove him from the foster care system at the time of her death.
‘She was a loving mother,’ Brian Gonzalez told ABC7 outside a vigil for his aunt on Sunday. ‘I feel like her time was way too short. Although I do know she died peacefully and she died loving me. I wanted her to see me grow up.’
Yesenia Olaez’s boyfriend is going to fight for custody of the boy, according to the outlet.
GoFundMe’s have been created for the three victims – Lorena Morales, Alejandra Olaez and Yesenia Olaez.
‘Our family suffered a tremendous loss as a result of a careless drunk driver,’ Lorena’s GoFundMe said.
‘My aunt Lorena Morales was driving home after celebrating her granddaughters baby shower along with her husband Jaime García and some friends who attended the shower as well.
‘This is a hard time for our family, she leaves behind her father, husband, sons, grandchildren, sisters and so much more family and friends.’
Alejandra was described as ‘a hard working mother who gave most of her life taking care of her children almost never spending time on her own’ by her son Jaime Olaez.
Yesenia was described as a ‘wonderful wife, daughter, sister and mother’ whose life was ‘cut short,’ leaving family members ‘heartbroken’.
Siharath faces life in prison if found guilty.
He is being held without bail and his arraignment is scheduled for March 28.
