Drunk Driver Who Killed UCSD Student In Freeway Pileup Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

A woman who was drunk when she lost control of her car, triggering a series of crashes on Interstate 8 near Alpine that killed two people, was sentenced today to nine years in state prison.

Sunny Hall, 31, pleaded guilty in December to two counts each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the June 11, 2012, deaths of 25- year-old substitute teacher and UCSD graduate student Angela August of Alpine and 59-year-old Calexico teacher Jimmy Arevalo of El Centro.

The series of crashes that culminated in the double fatality began shortly before 3 a.m. when August lost control of her eastbound 2009 Toyota Yaris on I-8 just west of Tavern Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The compact car went up a roadside embankment, then overturned and rolled several times before coming to rest across the far left-hand lane of the freeway, with August pinned inside.

A short time later, Arevalo pulled his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck in front of August's car and was standing alongside the damaged Yaris, talking to the CHP on his cell phone, when Hall's eastbound 2003 Audi A6 plowed into the overturned car and Arevalo, Deputy District Attorney Douglas Rose said.

August and Arevalo both died at the scene.

Hall's blood-alcohol level was measured at .15 percent after the accident, nearly double the legal limit for driving, according to the prosecutor.

Hall's criminal past includes convictions for drug possession, theft, forgery, escape, bail jumping and four convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license.