The Baja California Attorney General’s Office (FGE) asked a judge to sentence Nailea Salas Fernández to 22 years and six months in prison for a May 2021 drunk driving crash that killed two adults and severely burned three children on Tijuana’s Vía Rápida Oriente.
The sentencing hearing took place on May 27 at a Tijuana court. The presiding judge deferred his ruling to Friday, May 29, when the final sentence is expected to be announced.
The 2021 Crash on the Vía Rápida
According to prosecutors, Salas Fernández was driving drunk at speeds exceeding 100 km/h (about 62 mph) when she slammed into a family vehicle that was stopped on the Vía Rápida Oriente. The crash killed two adults and left three children with severe burns. The Vía Rápida is a major east-west highway that connects Tijuana’s eastern neighborhoods to the border crossing lanes leading into the United States.
The three surviving children are now in the care of their grandmother. Prosecutors asked the court to order more than 1.1 million pesos (approximately $55,000 USD) in restitution to cover funeral costs, hospital bills, and psychological therapy for the minors.
Defense Contests Sentence and Damages
Salas Fernández’s defense team contested both the sentence length and the restitution amount. The defense argued that the children did not need therapy and requested the minimum penalty allowed under the law. The defense did not dispute the conviction itself.
Salas Fernández has been free since 2022, when a judge converted her pretrial detention into an alternative measure. That decision drew criticism from victims’ families and Tijuana residents who have followed the case closely over the past four years.
A Closely Watched Case
The case has become one of Tijuana’s most prominent tests of accountability for drunk driving fatalities. Vehicular homicide cases in Mexico’s criminal justice system often result in sentences well below the statutory maximum, making the judge’s ruling on May 29 a significant moment for the city’s legal observers.
The crash site on the Vía Rápida Oriente is familiar territory for cross-border commuters. The road feeds directly into the lanes used by thousands of drivers heading to the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry each day.
The judge’s decision on the sentence and restitution is expected to be announced today. Originally reported by Punto Norte.