A Virginia Beach man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for a wrong-way, drunk-driving crash that killed a 37-year-old Norfolk man last year. Erwin Marroquin-Herrera, 26, had pleaded guilty to aggravated involuntary manslaughter and DUI-maiming for the Aug. 23, 2025, collision on London Bridge Road that left Steven A. White II dead and two others, including Marroquin-Herrera himself, hospitalized with serious injuries.
Marroquin-Herrera was sentenced to 25 years with 10 years suspended, leaving a total of 15 years to serve, according to WTKR. He had entered his guilty plea on Aug. 19, 2026, to both charges stemming from the crash, the station reported.
According to WAVY.com, Marroquin-Herrera was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of London Bridge Road when he collided head-on with a 2022 Kia Soul driven by White. The impact sent Marroquin-Herrera's vehicle sideways into the median, where it struck a tree on the driver's side and caught fire.
A Bystander Steps In As Flames Spread
White, the 37-year-old driver of the Kia, was pronounced dead at the scene, per the outlet's reporting. A civilian who witnessed the crash pulled Marroquin-Herrera and his passenger from the burning car and carried them to the sidewalk, the station reported. Both survived and were transported to a hospital with serious injuries.
At the hospital, staff drew Marroquin-Herrera's blood and sent it to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for testing, WAVY.com reported. The resulting toxicology report determined his blood-alcohol content was 0.255 — more than three times Virginia's legal limit, which state law sets at 0.08 for drivers, according to the Virginia Code. The Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney's Office described the same figure, calling it three times over the legal limit, per WTKR's report.
Admissions, Charges and an Immigration Detainer
Marroquin-Herrera told authorities at the scene that he had consumed two beers and four shots of tequila before getting behind the wheel, WAVY reported. He was charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter and DUI-maiming, and a bond hearing revealed he was undocumented, the outlet's reporting states.
Prosecutors said Marroquin-Herrera had previously been removed from the United States, and that U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement placed a detainer on him following the crash, according to the same report. Under Virginia law, aggravated involuntary manslaughter carries a punishment range of one to 20 years in prison, including a one-year mandatory minimum, per the Virginia Code.
The case adds to a pattern tracked by state officials: a Virginia DMV analysis of impaired-driving data found that alcohol-only-related fatalities statewide peaked at 293 in 2024, according to the agency's DUI data report. For the family of Steven A. White II, the 15-year sentence closes a case that began with a routine drive on London Bridge Road and ended in tragedy.
