Christian Ricardo Vargas, 26, will be sentenced next month to 21 years to life in state prison.
MARTINEZ — In a plea deal with Contra Costa prosecutors, a Bay Area man pleaded no contest to murdering a man and young girl in a 2021 drunk driving crash in Pittsburg, and will be formally sentenced to life next month.and 28-year-old Romero Castro in a Pittsburg crash that also injured Sela’s mother and her two brothers, 6, and 3. Vargas was on probation for a prior DUI conviction at the time of the crash, authorities said.
Prosecutors charges Vargas with murdering Sela and Castro, and injuring five victims who survived the crash. He was also charged with committing a DUI within 10 years of a prior DUI offense. The prior DUI offense would have given prosecutors a major leg-up had the case gone to trial; under state law, drunk driving murder prosecutions must establish that the defendant was intoxicated and knew his or her actions were dangerous to human life. When people receive DUI convictions they are formally admonished that they could have killed someone, creating a paper trail that can be used against them if they drive drunk again.
The April 12, 2021 crash took place at about 6 p.m. on West Leland Road, east of John Henry Johnson Parkway. Investigators said a Toyota Corolla driven by Castro and a Chevrolet Camaro driven by Vargas were both in eastbound lanes when the Camaro, traveling at high speed, rear-ended the Corolla.
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