A 48-year-old twice-convicted drunk driver was charged Tuesday with a deadly crash in Dana Point.
Serene Francie Rosenberg of Dana Point was charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury and driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level at or above the legal limit of .08% causing injury.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
Rosenberg was accused of killing 88-year-old Melvin Joseph Weibel of Dana Point in Friday night's head-on crash of a Land Rover SUV and Ford Transit van at Golden Lantern and Stonehill Drive.
Rosenberg was driving the Land Rover west on Stonehill when she turned against a red arrow signal in front of the van, which was headed eastbound on Stonehill, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
The van's driver was taken to a hospital to be treated for serious, but not life-threatening injuries, deputies said. Weibel was a passenger in the van.
Rosenberg pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08% or more on Feb. 22, 2011. She pleaded guilty Jan. 20, 2012, to misdemeanor counts of child abuse and endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and driving with a blood-alcohol content of .08% or more.
The prior drunken driving convictions allow prosecutors to escalate what would usually be a voluntary manslaughter case to second-degree murder. Manslaughter convictions carry a punishment of a finite term in prison, but murder mandates a life sentence, meaning the defendant would have to petition for release from a parole board.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM