Vincent de la Vega, 31, a Santa Ana man, was charged with murder in connection with a crash that killed two people on the southbound Orange (57) Freeway in Diamond Bar, according to the O.C. Register.
De la Vega pleaded no contest Monday to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He is due back in court on Tuesday, when victims’ impact statements are scheduled to be delivered, according to the Daily Pilot.
De la Vega’s crash victims included Eduardo Goncalves-Lins, 28, of Costa Mesa, and his passenger, Paula Queiroz-Lopes, 24, of Diamond Bar. They were killed in the crash, on Oct. 28, 2017, shortly before 3 a.m.
Goncalves-Lins was involved in a previous accident that morning as he was driving a 2014 Toyota Corolla south on the 57. He veered to the right and crashed into the back of a tow truck that was parked on the right shoulder just south of Diamond Bar Boulevard, according to the CHP. About a minute later, de la Vega’s Toyota Tacoma struck the Corolla, and both Goncalves-Lins and Queiroz-Lopes were thrown onto the freeway, according to the CHP.