DUI driver sentenced to 21 years in crash that orphaned 3 young kids

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - A 23-year-old woman was sentenced to 21 years to life on Friday after pleading guilty to an alcohol-fueled crash in Newport Beach that killed a Santa Ana couple and left their three young daughters hospitalized.

Grace Elizabeth Coleman, of Newport Beach, had a blood alcohol level of .22% - nearly three times the legal limit – and left the scene of the collision, leaving the injured children strapped in their car seats with the bodies of their parents. Coleman also refused to take a blood alcohol content test as required by law.

Coleman pleaded guilty in June exchange for a court offer of 21 years to life.

As part of the agreement, she pleaded guilty to two felony murder counts, one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, one felony count of driving with a blood alcohol of .08% or more causing bodily injury, and one felony count of hit-and-run with injury. Coleman plead guilty to three felony enhancements of great bodily injury for causing injuries to all three of the couple’s daughters and one misdemeanor count of driving with a blood alcohol of .08% or more in connection with an August 29, 2020, arrest in Laguna Beach.

Coleman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as well as single counts each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, a DUI with a blood-alcohol content exceeding the legal limit of .08% or more causing injury, and failure to stop at a hit-and-run with injury or death, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol content in excess of the legal limit.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Woman charged in DUI crash that killed couple, injured their 3 young children

Coleman had faced a maximum sentence of 42 years and eight months to life in state prison.

Gabriela Andrade, 28, and her husband, Henry Saldana-Mejia, 27, were driving with their three daughters, ages 1, 4, and 5, near the intersection of Pelican Hill Road and Newport Coast Drive on December 8, 2020. At approximately 7:46 p.m. Coleman is accused of running a red light and crashing into the family’s vehicle, killing both parents and seriously injuring their three daughters who were secured in car seats.

Andrade and Saldana-Mejia were killed and their three daughters were seriously injured in the collision.

According to a GoFundMe page created by Andrade's sister, the family had been admiring holiday lights in the area that night, and the victims' daughters, who are 1, 3 and 5 years old, were dressed in "their Christmas pajamas."

"These young parents were just trying to share the magic of Christmas with their three little girls and it ended in the most horrific and completely avoidable tragedy," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. "The magic of Christmas turned into a real life nightmare for this young family because a 22-year-old who knew the dangers of drinking and driving got behind the wheel and did it anyway. Three little girls are now orphans and Grace Coleman is a convicted murderer who will have to live with the screams of three injured little girls trapped in their car seats playing over and over in her head for the rest of her life."