A 30-year-old man from Fontana was slapped with murder and DUI charges Wednesday after he struck and killed a 14-year-old girl while driving intoxicated in Newport Beach, authorities said. Joseph Alcazar, who has two previous DUI convictions, was allegedly driving with a blood alcohol concentration twice the legal limit when the crash occurred on the evening of May 25 near the Balboa Fun Zone.
According to the KTLA, Alcazar was behind the wheel with his own 8-year-old daughter and another man in the car when he decided to bypass a stopped vehicle, hitting Rosenda Elizabeth Smiley as she crossed the street with two other pedestrians. Along with the fatal injury to Smiley, a 13-year-old girl's foot was also run over in the incident.
The Orange County District Attorney's Office reported that Smiley was pronounced dead at the scene. Alcazar, who stopped shortly after the collision, now faces charges including one felony count of murder and one misdemeanor count of willful endangerment of a child, among others. If convicted, he could be looking at 15 years to life plus six years in prison.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement, "A 14-year-old girl living the California dream enjoying a day of sun and sand at the beach with friends to kick off the beginning of summer is dead because of the selfish decision of a stranger." He continued to highlight the impact of the tragedy on both Smiley's family and Alcazar's own daughter, noting that, "Instead of a summer of memories with their daughter, the family of Rosenda Smiley is now forced to live with the harsh reality that the only memories they will ever have were what could fit into the short fourteen years of her young life."
