A 73-year-old Florida woman will not spend time in prison after pleading guilty to a drunk driving crash that killed her best friend. Julia Vega accepted a plea deal on Tuesday for DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the death of 69-year-old Elsa Pintor.
The incident took place on New Year’s Eve in 2024. Vega was driving her SUV through an apartment complex parking lot in Hialeah Gardens with Pintor in the passenger seat. According to investigators, the car suddenly sped up, hit a pole, crashed through a chain-link fence, and drove into a nearby lake.
Vega managed to escape the sinking vehicle, but Pintor did not make it out on her own. Emergency crews pulled Pintor from the water with a faint pulse, but she died from her injuries at the hospital later that night.
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Police at the scene described Vega as stumbling and slurring her words. Body camera footage showed her telling officers, “I’m not drunk, we only had wine at Cooper’s Hawk,” before asking, “Did my friend die?”
Toxicology reports later revealed Vega had Xanax in her system and a blood alcohol level of 0.148, which is nearly double the legal limit.
Vega’s attorney, Hilton Napoleon, said his client is deeply remorseful and lives with the guilt of the accident every day. He stated that prosecutors agreed that sending the elderly woman to prison would not serve the public’s best interest.
Instead of jail time, a judge sentenced Vega to 10 years of probation. She must follow a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., perform 200 hours of community service, and her driver’s license has been permanently revoked.
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