An Orange County woman with three previous convictions for driving under the influence has pleaded guilty to murder in the death of a pregnant woman whom she struck with her vehicle in 2020.
Courtney Fritz Pandolfi, 44, of Garden Grove, pleaded guilty Tuesday in the death of Yesenia Aguilar, a 23-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant at the time.
Pandolfi, who had three DUI convictions and was awaiting a fourth charge from the previous year, was driving her white Jeep SUV in Anaheim while under the influence of multiple narcotics, officials said.
She eventually left the roadway and hopped a curb onto the sidewalk, colliding with the mother-to-be as she walked with her husband on Katella Avenue near Bayless Street.
Pandolfi continued to drive on the sidewalk for more than 100 yards without using her brake or taking evasive action, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. She continued to drive until her vehicle became disabled, officials said.
Aguilar was rushed to UC Irvine Medical Center where she later died, but doctors were able to perform a cesarean section and save the baby — a girl named Adalyn Rose.
Adalyn, now 3 years old, was present in the courtroom Tuesday morning alongside her father, James Alvarez, to hear Pandolfi enter her guilty plea.
Pandolfi was set to face a jury for Aguilar’s death, but ultimately avoided trial by pleading guilty to murder, one felony count of driving under the influence of drugs causing bodily injury with two or more priors, two misdemeanor counts of driving on a suspended license, one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs and one misdemeanor count of possession of controlled substance paraphernalia.
She also pleaded guilty to two drug charges that were filed while she was incarcerated and awaiting trial.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Californians convicted of DUI are advised that if they kill someone while driving under the influence they can be charged with murder.
Pandolfi was convicted of DUI in 2008, 2015 and 2016 and was warned about the risk of a murder charge on all three occasions, District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
“This was not an accident. This is a woman who made a habit of driving while high,” Spitzer said. “She knew it was wrong, but she decided that being high was more important than the life of a young woman who was just weeks away from becoming a mother for the first time.”
Pandolfi now faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison. A date for her sentencing was not announced.