Who is Grace Coleman? Drunk driver gets 21 years as she sobs listening to girls whose parents she killed
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA: A drunk driver was seen crying in court as she heard victim impact statements from three girls whose parents she killed in an accident, leaving them orphaned. 23-year-old Grace Coleman was seen wiping tears from her eyes at Newport Beach court house on Friday, July 29. She has been sentenced to 21 years in prison after admitting to the second-degree murders of Henry Eduardo Saldana-Mejia, 27, and his wife Gabriela Andrade, 28, in December 2020.
"I miss my mom and dad," a family member quoted a letter from Elena Saldana-Mejia. The full letter was displayed on a courtroom table. "I feel sad when the accident happened," the letter added. Judge Gregg Prickett, who is presiding over the case, paused for a moment to compose himself. "Those precious girls, I'm sorry," he said, his voice cracking.
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Who is Grace Coleman?
In December 2020, Coleman smashed her Range Rover Sport into the couple's Nissan Versa, killing them. The family was out looking for Christmas lights at the time. Elena and her sisters Emma Sofia and Samantha were all aged between one and five at the time and were reportedly wearing their Christmas pajamas during the tragedy. They reportedly sat inside the wreck and wept. Coleman, who was apprehended by police soon after, was almost three times over the drink-drive limit. Although a friend had driven her home that day, she later got back in her car.
Besides the murder charges, Coleman also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving while her BAC was at or over the legal limit of .08 per cent, and failure to stop at hit-and-run with injury and death. Additionally, she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of DUI and driving with a BAC in excess of the legal limit in connection with an incident from August 2020. If this case went to trial, she could have been convicted to at least 42 years and eight months.
On Friday, the girls' drawings were shown and writings read out in court. "Who is going to walk them down the aisle if they ever get married? Who is going to dance with them at their quinceanera?" Jennifer Gutierrez, a cousin of the victims, told the court, according to the Daily Mail.
Mayra Amaro, the mother of Gabriela Andrade, said outside the court that the girls were suffering. "They are the ones who cry for their mom and dad, who are no longer here," she said. The girls, who were seriously injured in the crash, still need to undergo surgeries. Their legs were broken at the time, but they have mostly physically recovered now. They live with their maternal aunt in San Diego with the support of other family members.
The family is suing Coleman in a civil suit. The suit also mentions Coleman's parents, who allowed her to drive the Range Rover although she was involved in two drunk driving incidents previously. The family's lawyer Jeffrey T Roberts said that the sentencing hearing was "probably the most moving thing I've ever seen." He said that Coleman met the family personally and expressed her sorrow and regret. "This was the first time she had been face to face with the little girls," Roberts said. "I know she had been hearing from the family about what they had lost. Now she was face to face with them."
"Ms Coleman openly accepted responsibility to the judge for this complete tragedy," Coleman's defense attorney Paul Meyer said. "We appreciate the judge's wisdom in balancing the very sad tragedy with Grace Coleman's age, full acceptance of responsibility, and strong rehabilitation along with her year of selfless community service while in custody."