What to Know
- The defendant was arrested Tuesday and remains jailed on more than $1 million bail.
- If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life.
- The defendant had a previous DUI arrest in Huntington Beach in 2019.
A Southern California man has been arrested on suspicion of causing a fatal DUI crash that occurred just hours after he left a hospital for treatment of a fentanyl overdose, authorities said Thursday.
Kyu Chen, 61, died in the crash around 4 a.m. on Sept. 27 in Irvine.
She was on her way to work when her Prius was broadsided by a Mercedes driven by a 21-year-old man named Luis Marcial Diaz of Irvine.
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Officials accuse Diaz of running a red light at Sand Canyon Road and Irvine Center Drive in the City of Irvine.
Prosecutors said the man was coming from a hospital after being saved from overdosing on fentanyl.
"Instead of taking that near-death experience to heart, he continued to engage in incredibly dangerous behavior and it cost Mrs. Chen her life,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
The defendant was arrested Tuesday and remains jailed on more than $1 million bail. If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life.
The defendant had a previous DUI arrest in Huntington Beach in 2019.
"Drivers arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in California can be given what is known as a Watson advisement that informs them that if they kill someone while driving under the influence they can be charged with murder," the Orange County District Attorney said in a news release.
