Penalty in DWI death: 19 years

Penalty in DWI death: 19 years

Man sentenced in 2005 crash that killed woman, his second such charge in an 11-month span

GARY L. WRIGHT
gwright@charlotteobserver.com

Raymundo Espinoza Pineda, accused of killing a 21-year-old woman in a wreck along Independence Boulevard in 2005, was convicted Friday of second-degree murder, driving while impaired and hit and run.

Pineda, 24, was sentenced to at least 19 years in prison.

Jasmine Lawrence of Charlotte died in the April 23, 2005, wreck. Pineda's blood-alcohol level, according to court records, was 0.13. It's against the law in North Carolina to drive with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more.

It was the second time in less than a year that Pineda had been charged with DWI. Pineda had been accused of driving while impaired in May 2004. That charge was pending at the time of the fatal wreck.

"This was a sad day for Jasmine's family," Mecklenburg Assistant District Attorney Jay Ashendorf told the Observer following Friday's conviction. "This didn't have to happen. We were in court because the defendant didn't learn his lesson in 2004 when he was first charged with DWI."

Assistant District Attorney Anna Willyard, who also prosecuted Pineda, said: "This man hit Jasmine Lawrence. He killed her. And then he ran. We are happy that the jurors shared our opinion that this was murder."

Authorities say Pineda was driving a pickup east on Independence Boulevard near Farmington Road after midnight when it struck Lawrence's car. The impact sent Lawrence's car across the median and into the path of a pickup. That pickup struck Lawrence's car.

She died at the scene. Pineda was not injured.