DA: Woman sentenced after 2021 DUI crash kills 2 children in Porterville

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A 47-year-old woman was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after a DUI crash in 2021 that led to the death of two children and left others with multiple significant injuries, the District Attorney’s Office of Tulare County announced.

The DA says at approximately 3:20 p.m. on June 19, 2021, Porterville Police Department officers responded to Main Street and Orange Avenue for a multi-vehicle collision. Elizabeth Nungaray, who possessed a prior DUI conviction from 2000, was speeding, swerving, and violating traffic signals when she crashed into the victims’ SUV.

Officials say the impacted vehicle was occupied by two women and four children aged 5 to 13 years old. One of the children, a 10-year-old, died at the scene, and an 8-year-old child was pronounced deceased at the hospital.

The surviving family members, the DA says, suffered severe injuries including permanent paralysis. The occupant of a third vehicle suffered minor injuries. Nungaray’s blood alcohol level was .15%.

On March 29, the DA says Nungaray pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder and one felony count of DUI causing injury. The charges are enhanced with the special allegations that she has prior felony convictions and that she personally inflicted great bodily injury.

Under California state sentencing laws, the DA states Nungaray has a minimum parole eligibility of 30 years not including CDCR credits. She was sentenced in the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center.