Fresno DUI driver sentenced for crash that fatally injured unborn baby
A Fresno drunk driver who crashed into a young couple, killing their unborn baby, will spend seven years and four months in prison, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Rafael Delgado, 27, had a blood alcohol concentration that was twice the legal limit to drive when he slammed his 2005 GMC Yukon into the 2015 Nissan Altima driven by Jose and Heidy Jimenez on Dec. 29, 2018.
The young couple were just five minutes from their home when the crashed happened. They were driving back from San Joaquin in west Fresno County where they had dinner with Heidy’s parents. They wanted to show them the ultrasound photo of their baby girl, Sophie Juliette.
Jose and Heidy desperately wanted to start a family, but they had been waiting for the right time, Jose said. Both are professionals, Jose, 29, works in banking and Heidy, 30, is a certified public accountant When they found out she was pregnant they couldn’t wait to start this new chapter of their lives.
“I could feel her little feet and hands pushing against my belly whenever I spoke to her,” Heidy wrote in a statement to the court.
But at about 10:15 p.m. that night, the first-time parents were heading north on Golden State Boulevard just past the Ashlan overpass when Delgado came barreling toward them, hitting them head on.
Sophie delivered by cesarean section
The crash sent both husband and wife to the hospital. The impact was so severe, doctors had to deliver the baby by cesarean section. Sophie weighed just 3 pounds 1 ounce and was 16.5 inches.
She entered the world on Dec. 30 and passed away the next day.
“Heidy and I got to meet her and hold her briefly,” Jose said during the sentencing hearing. “Meeting baby Sophie was everything we had dreamed of and more, but only for an instant.”
The death of their baby, coupled with major injuries to Jose’s leg, put the couple into a tailspin emotionally.
Jose acknowledged in court that at their lowest, they contemplated suicide. But their love for each other brought them through it. “We decided that we couldn’t live without each other,” Heidy said.
Delgado was arrested at the scene of the crash. His blood alcohol concentration was 0.16, twice the legal legal limit. Photos taken at the crash scene show the couple’s car in shreds.
Plea for mercy
On Wednesday, Delgado stood in his red jailhouse jumpsuit in Judge Michael Idiart’s courtroom waiting to be sentenced.
His family crowded the courtroom. More than a dozen people stood in support of Delgado. Several speakers said he was a good young man, who had not been in trouble before. His mother Noelia Chavez pleaded with Judge Idiart for mercy. She also sympathized with Heidy Jimenez.
“I am a mother of four and to lose a child is the most difficult thing you can go through,” she said.
Delgado issued an emotional apology to everyone involved.
“I am ashamed and angry for causing this horrible event that you will have to endure forever,” he said. “I have failed my family, my community, your family and myself.”
Prosecutor Steve Ueltzen said Delgado didn’t deserve leniency. He pushed for an eight-year prison term.
“It is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine anyone who is not aware of the possible consequences of driving under the influence,” Ueltzen said. “This defendant made the choice to take the risk and gamble with the safety of other people. And in this case it cost Sophie her life.”
Idiart took into consideration Delgado’s age and lack of criminal history when he handed down his prison sentence of seven years and four months. Delgado had pleaded no contest in October to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI with BAC of .08% or more causing injury.
“Although you are eligible for probation, because of the carnage you have created probation is denied,” Idiart said. “I can’t overlook your age and the good things you have done in life and the support you have. And that just show how tragic this whole situation is.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 4:51 PM.
