Woman in DUI case who killed friend on birthday gets six years
Hunt, sentenced to six years. Booking Photo.
FULLERTON, California – Driving while impaired caused a crash in which Lynette Ann Hunt ended up killing two friends, incluing one whose birthday they were out to celebrate.
Hunt was sentenced to six years in jail Monday for killing her best friend, Maria Zamarripa who turned 30 on the day she died. A third friend who was with them was also killed.
Hunt, 32, of Fullerton, pleaded guilty in court on Aug. 3, 2009, to one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful act with gross negligence while intoxicated, one misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license, and sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury and having a blood alcohol level of .15 percent.
On July 11, 2008, Hunt and two friends, 28-year-old Vanessa Herrada, of Fullerton, and 30-year-old Maria Zamarripa, of Fontana, were celebrating Zamarippa’s 30th birthday at California Girls Gentleman’s Club in Santa Ana.
The three left the club in Hunt’s 1993 Honda sedan.
“At approximately 6:35 p.m., Hunt, who was driving recklessly and weaving in and out of lanes on westbound State Route 91, hit her brakes and locked all four tires, causing the car to skid and the tires to smoke as she approached the East Street exit. She then accelerated and suddenly veered across several lanes of traffic,” according to details of the case presented in court.
“Hunt’s vehicle flipped down the freeway embankment, rolled over, and ejected Hunt and Zamarripa from the car,” said the prosecutor.
California Highway Patrol officers responded to the crash and investigated the case and observed that Hunt emitted a strong odor of alcohol, slurred her speech, and had bloodshot and watery eyes.
Approximately two hours after the crash, Hunt had a blood alcohol level of .15 percent, almost two times the legal limit.
Herrada was pronounced dead at the scene due to major head trauma. Zamarripa was transported to UCI Medical Center with severe internal injuries and died at the hospital shortly after the crash. Hunt suffered a broken clavicle and ribs.
At Hunt’s sentencing on Monday, the family and children of both victims made impact statements expressing how difficult the holidays will be without their loved ones.
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Posted by News Editor
on Sep 21 2009. Filed under U.S..
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And just too shut down anyone else that says she was not driving. They have her on tape leaving the club and getting in the driver seat.
Look if lynette wasn’t guilty why would she plea guilty !!! She should have fought it if she wasn’t the one driving but clearly there was more than enough evidence that proved it was her! Her blood matched the blood on the steering wheel so ya she did do it and she should rot in jail and there’s no way she will be out in less than 5 yrs. Oh and that part about she’s a mother too well wake up u haven’t taken care of ur kid in a while the kid wasn’t even living with you.
i cant believe this! i met Lynette through a really close friend of hers and i went to her court sentencing on Monday. the whole case is bullshyt! she wasn’t the only one drinking, they ALL were drunk. grown adults who know the consequences of drinking and driving. they didn’t even have any evidence that Lynette was the one driving. she’s getting blamed for something that she had no control over just because she didn’t die? even me, a person who has no emotional attachment to any of these people knows that this is WRONG. it doesn’t even matter tho cause she’ll be out in to time n then we’ll see who has the last laugh. and that whole “impact statements the children and families made”. please, those must be some of the most smartest 9yr olds I’ve ever met because those letters they “wrote” sure didn’t sound like a 9yr old child wrote them. when its all said and done Lynette will get no more than 2yrs tops.
Yeah, before you even got to the part of the BAC level, I knew it had to be something high. But at 0.15 either she’s an alcoholic already or she went on a binge, i.e. drinking non-stop for hours and hours. I just don’t understand, as a human, why you would crawl into the car with someone clearly intoxicated like that. And, now, jail aside, she killed her friend. That right there is painful. My heart goes out to everyone involved.