OROVILLE — A 26-year-old Chico woman surprised officials with an early plea in Butte County Superior Court on Wednesday.
Shelby Alvarez pleaded no contest for causing a head-on collision on Highway 99 in Chico at around 11 p.m. Dec. 16, according to a news release from the Butte County District Attorney’s Office. She had driven southbound onto the northbound lanes of the freeway with a 0.25% blood-alcohol content — more than triple the legal limit — and was texting someone on her mobile phone.
She now faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when she learns her sentence Jan. 31, though she is eligible for probation due to her lack of a criminal history.
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said, “It is exceedingly rare for a person to accept full responsibility for their wrongdoing without any deal and throw themselves on the mercy of the court at such an early stage of the proceeding.”
Alvarez crashed her 2009 Subaru Outback into a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette driven by 21-year-old Octavio Alcarez-Jimenez of Maxwell. California Highway Patrol officers who responded to the wreck said Alvarez’s car drove over the top of the Corvette, ejecting Alcarez-Jimenez from the car and killing him, according to the release.
The Subaru came to rest on its side, but Alvarez suffered only minor seat-belt injuries and lacerations. According to the release, Alvarez said that due to her texting at the time of the collision, she did not see the approaching Corvette.
During questioning shortly after the crash, Alvarez told officers she had been drinking at a family Christmas party and left to go home, according to the release. She told officers she knew of the dangers of driving under the influence; as proof, she has a tattoo in memory of one of her high school friends who was killed by a drunk driver.
Alvarez’s public defender, Matthew Bently, requested that Butte County Superior Court Judge Corie Caraway allow the release of Alvarez, on her own recognizance, to an alcohol rehabilitation program, pending sentencing. Bently noted her lack of any criminal history and her acceptance of responsibility for her actions.
Prosecutors objected to Alvarez’s release, pointing out her high blood alcohol content and her personal knowledge of how deadly and dangerous it was to combine drinking and driving.
Caraway denied the defense’s request for release citing public safety concerns and remanded Alvarez back to the Butte County Jail, where she has been housed since the crash on a no-bail hold.
Ramsey said Alcaraz-Jimenez had been working building carports to support his mother and father in Maxwell. He chose to forgo school to earn money to support his family, paying for car and home insurance, and groceries.
This story has been corrected to reflect that Alvarez pleaded no contest to the charges.
