A Fresno County woman was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years to life in prison for a deadly impaired driving crash that killed her passenger nearly four years ago, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Related Story: Fresno Police Officer: City Retaliates After I Blew Whistle on Balderrama

Lizbeth Resendez Romero, 30, of Parlier, was convicted of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while impaired, and hit-and-run after pleading guilty in January.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge William J. Terrence handed down the sentence.

Romero was driving a Honda Accord in Selma just after midnight on March 30, 2021, when she rear-ended a parked SUV near Floral and McCall avenues, prosecutors said.

Related Story: Fresno Police to Conduct Motorcycle Safety Enforcement Saturday

Her rear passenger, Luis Rodriguez, 28, of Reedley, suffered fatal injuries, and another passenger was hospitalized.

Authorities said Romero fled the scene, abandoning Rodriguez inside the vehicle.

She was later found hiding behind garbage cans a few blocks away.

Related Story: Fresno Pipe Bomber Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison

Toxicology tests showed Romero was under the influence of alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana at the time of the crash, with her blood alcohol concentration nearly twice the legal limit.

Court records show Romero had a prior DUI conviction in 2019 and was on probation at the time of the crash. She had also been arrested for DUI in Madera County just 19 days earlier.

During her previous cases, both a judge and law enforcement warned Romero that impaired driving could result in a murder charge if someone was killed, prosecutors said.

—

Connect with Anthony W. Haddad on social media. Got a tip? Send an email.