A man who drove drunk and caused a high-speed Lemon Grove freeway crash that killed a young mother of two was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in state prison.
Isaac Tre Payne, 27, pleaded guilty earlier this year to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other charges for the Dec. 23, 2022, crash that killed 25-year-old El Cajon resident Leslie Nunez Rosas.
Prosecutors allege that just before 8:30 a.m. that day, Payne struck Rosas’ car on westbound state Route 94, which sent it into a callbox near the College Avenue off-ramp. Rosas’ car then went airborne and overturned. She was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
According to Deputy District Attorney Lynn Crum, Payne then drove off at high speeds and exited at Kelton Road, where he struck three parked cars.
When officers stopped him, Crum said he ran from his car but was detained by police, who “smelled an overwhelming odor of alcohol on his person.” He denied drinking and said he last consumed alcohol the night before, according to the prosecutor, who said Payne had a 0.098 percent blood-alcohol content about four hours after the fatal crash.
The victim’s family members told NBC7 last year that Rosas was on her way to work and had Christmas presents for her children in her trunk when the crash occurred. At the time, Rosas had a 6-year-old daughter and an 11-month-old son.
Along with manslaughter, Payne pleaded guilty to charges of DUI and hit-and-run causing death.
