An alleged drunk driver was ordered Dec. 10 to stand trial for two counts of second-degree murder involving the deaths of two passengers including a 20-year-old Chula Vista resident.
Carlos Kristopher Vargas, who went by the nickname of C.J. Vargas, was killed April 19 in East County when the Nissan driven by his friend, Mario Alberto Carranza, 25, of San Diego, overturned in a concrete culvert.
Also killed was Monica Yvette Lupercio, 20, of San Diego. Both passengers died of blunt force trauma to the head and torso.
The blood/alcohol level of Carranza was .25, which is three times the legal limit according to a stipulation reached between attorneys in the preliminary hearing before El Cajon Superior Court Judge John Thompson.
His blood/alcohol level while he was driving was estimated at .28 to .33, according to the agreement between Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright and defense attorney Luis Macias. Bright said there was some evidence Carranza had between 9-14 drinks that night as he drank before attending a party in Alpine.
Carranza went to sleep it off in an empty bathtub at the home on April 18. He woke up at 7 a.m. April 19, still under the influence of alcohol, and was driving his passengers home when he lost control of his vehicle.
Carranza drove on Interstate 8 near Lake Jennings Park Road when he drifted onto the center divider, overcorrected, drove through a chain link fence, and overturned the Nissan in a concrete culvert around 7:30 a.m.
“He admitted he did cocaine earlier when he first got to the party,” said Mike Edwards, a California Highway Patrol officer who interviewed Carranza in the hospital.
Murder charges were filed because Carranza has a prior record for driving under the influence, said Bright. He also tested positive for recent cocaine use and .30 grams of the drug was found in his pocket, said Bright.
“The defendant was driving the vehicle when he drifted off, (either) went to sleep or was distracted,” testified Edwards.
Edwards said Carranza admitted a prior drunk driving conviction and said “he had gone to all (classes)” that were required. Carranza knew the danger of drinking and driving, said Edwards.
Thompson also ordered Carranza to stand trial for two counts of vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving. If Carranza is convicted of two second-degree murder charges, he faces a sentence of 30 years to life in prison.
He will get a trial date set on Jan. 5 and has pleaded not guilty. Carranza remains in the central jail on $1 million bail.
