TWO YOUNG PEOPLE KILLED IN LAKESIDE CRASH; DRIVER CHARGED WITH MURDER

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By Miriam Raftery

April 25, 2014 (Lakeside) – San Diego residents Carlos Kristopher Vargas and Monica Yvette Lupercio, each 20 years old , died of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident April 19 on westbound Interstate 8  near the Lake Jennings exit in Lakeside.  Vargas and Lupercio  were passengers in the backseat, both wearing seatbelts when the vehicle drifted into the median. 

The driver , Mario Alberto Carranza, had a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit. Because of a prior DUI on his record, Carranza has been charged with murder. He pled not guilty and his hearing is set for May 1st.

According to the prosecutor, Carranza drifted into the median, then over-corrected; the vehicle crossed westbound lanes onto a dirt easement and became airborne, plunging down an embankment before halting in front of a drainage ditch.

Both victims were extricated from the wreckage by officers and paramedics, who declared Vargas and Lupercio dead at the scene. 

Lupercio’s mother said of Carranza, "He killed her dreams, our dreams to make her grow up and see my grandkids, whatever was in her future," ECM news partner 10 News reported.


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