Catawba man accused of DWI, speeding in wreck that killed Hickory woman
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007
By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer
A Catawba County man charged with driving drunk through downtown Hickory was sentenced Friday to at least 13 years and five months in prison in connection with a crash that left a woman dead.
Jurors deliberated for five hours before deciding to find 21-year-old Enrique Cardenas Zavala guilty of second-degree murder in the Sept. 29, 2006, death of 55-year-old Rena Moore. Her husband, 59-year-old Jerry Moore, was critically injured.
Attorneys on both sides said they agreed on the facts -- that Cardenas Zavala had gone to Hickory High School's homecoming football game and decided to drink alcohol. Afterward, they agreed, he stopped at a convenience store and bought some beer.
He was speeding through downtown Hickory's streets, going 62 mph in a 25 mph zone, when he drove his 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix through a red light and slammed into the Moores' pickup truck.
A blood test showed that Cardenas Zavala's alcohol level was 0.13. The legal limit in North Carolina is 0.08.
Cardenas Zavala, then 20, was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, driving while impaired, driving by a person less than 21 years old after consuming alcohol and failure to stop at a stop light.
It was the second time Cardenas Zavala had been charged with DWI in less than 14 months. In August 2005, he was charged with DWI in Catawba County, but the charges were dismissed when he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. He served 30 days in jail and paid a fine.
Defense attorney Dan Fulkerson asked jurors to find Cardenas Zavala guilty of involuntary manslaughter, he said, because there was "no malice involved."
All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment