Eight-year-old Regina Cata had been an honor student at San Juan Elementary whose favorite subject was math. Her life changed the night of June 15, 2008, when a drunk driver’s car landed on top of the car she was riding in with her family.
Bleeding from the nose and mouth, Cata had to be airlifted to University of New Mexico hospital after being knocked unconscious and fracturing her skull.
Nine months later, Cata has had a metal plate surgically implanted in her head, has memory loss and continues to be treated by a neurologist for the brain injury she sustained in the crash. To add insult to injury, she gets ridiculed by her classmates because her hair still hasn’t grown back where her head was shaved for treatment, her mother Margaret Abeyta said.
While Cata and the other victims of the crash are still struggling to recuperate, the drunk driver police blamed solely for the wreck has agreed to a plea deal that may allow her to avoid any prison time.
Victoria Gonzales, 26, of Española, was originally charged with two counts of causing great bodily injury by vehicle, but pleaded guilty March 19 in state District Court in Tierra Amarilla to only one of those counts. The District Attorney’s office has dismissed the other count. She could be sentenced to time-served on electronic monitoring or three years in prison with two years of parole afterward, Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Thwaits said in court. If the judge chooses the former option, Gonzales would be freed immediately without ever stepping inside a prison.
“I’m not comfortable with this at all,” Rebecca Gonzales, Cata’s grandmother and legal guardian, said. “(Victoria Gonzales) almost killed this whole family. Since it’s her first offense, she gets a pat on the shoulder.”
Victoria Gonzales told police she had shared a pint of whiskey and an unspecified amount of beer with a co-worker at San Juan Lakes before getting in her car and driving north on State Road 68. State Police officer Carlos Gonzalez was driving in front of Gonzales just outside of Española when he witnessed the three-car crash in his rear-view mirror.
Gonzales was traveling approximately 100 miles per hour and clipped a Nissan sedan just south of the entrance to the Ohkay Casino, according to the police report. She drove into the median and flipped her car, landing on the Ford Crown Victoria driving southbound and carrying Cata.
Two adults in a family of four in the Nissan sustained minor injuries and were treated and released from Española Hospital the night of the incident. Their two small children were uninjured, police said.
Cata’s family was not as lucky. George Gallegos was driving the Crown Victoria with Abeyta in the front passenger seat and Cata and the couple’s 2-year-old son, Santiago, in the backseat.
“Before the impact I told Regina and George, ‘Hold on!’” Abeyta said. “(After the crash) first thing I checked on Santiago, my baby. Next I checked on Regina — she was going through seizures. George was pinned in the car.”
Gonzales’ car landed mostly on the driver’s side of the car where Gallegos and Cata were seated. Gallegos had to be extracted from the vehicle with the jaws of life. He was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital and spent two months there, Abeyta said.
“I have internal brain damage,” Gallegos said at the March 19 hearing. “I can’t work to support my family or nothing.”
Gallegos was formerly a landscaper for the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino golf course, Abeyta said.
Gallegos had to be warned by Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s deputy Marvin Mercure to stay calm at the conclusion of the hearing. He was in a state of agitation as he approached the area of the courtroom where the assistant district attorneys sit.
Gallegos said he was upset because the District Attorney’s office dropped the charge for causing his injuries. Gonzales pleaded guilty to the count related to Cata’s injuries.
“I called (Thwaits) and told her personally I didn’t want the charges dropped,” Gallegos said. “She made me feel like I could have avoided the accident. How can you avoid the accident if you didn’t even see the car?”
Officer Carlos Gonzalez’s report states that Victoria Gonzales was solely responsible for the crash. Her blood alcohol concentration was tested at .11 (the legal limit is .08), Thwaits said in court.
Gonzales’ conviction will result in her having her license suspended for one year, Motor Vehicle Division spokesman David Harwell said.
The family’s reaction to the plea deal was reminiscent of another Rio Arriba case that was recently adjudicated. Jose Escobar Herrera, 22, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the April 13, 2008, death of his girlfriend Natasha Mondragon, his girlfriend. Herrera, a Mexican immigrant, was sentenced to time served (10 months) and deported to Mexico — an outcome Mondragon’s family viewed as a get out of jail free card for Herrera.
Thwaits said the District Attorney’s office takes victims’ and victims’ families’ wishes into consideration when determining how to prosecute cases and is careful to respect their rights as defined in the state Constitution, such as the right to notification of court proceedings.
“We have a duty to consult with the victim and keep them fully informed of what’s going on in the case,” Thwaits said. “In the end, it’s the state’s case.”
Thwaits would not discuss evidence in the case until after sentencing next month with new state District Court Judge Sheri Raphaelson.
Victoria Gonzales’ attorney Dan Marlowe, who requested about one month to prepare for sentencing, did not return a call for comment. Victoria Gonzales, who is out of jail on electronic monitoring pending sentencing, hung up on a reporter who called her for comment.
Rebecca Gonzales said Cata is angry about what happened.
“She used to go horseback riding — now all she can do is pat the horses,” she said. “All her playthings are going to waste, her bike — Victoria took all that away from her.”