MIAMI – Police expect to charge a 19-year-old University of Miami student with DUI manslaughter in a car crash that killed a 68-year-old woman Sunday morning.
During Ivanna Villanueva's appearance in bond court Monday morning, prosecutors said she admitted to drinking at a club before getting into her new Audi and heading toward Coral Gables.
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At the corner of LeJeune Road and Majorca Avenue about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, police said Villaueva slammed into the back of Eyder Ayala's red Ford at about 80 mph.
The impact obliterated the back of Ayala's car and pushed the trunk into the passenger compartment, pushing it up onto the corner curb. Ayala, 68, died.
"Eight days ago, we were celebrating at my brother's wedding. My mother was dancing," said Ayala's daughter, Brenda Sadek. "Now, we have to go to a funeral and mourn her death."
Villanueva crashed into a concrete pole in a hotel driveway. The airbags apparently spared her serious injury.
"She has to pay for what she did," said Sadek.
Villanueva, who is charged with vehicular homicide, was given $50,000 bond and, when posted, is ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor under house arrest.
Villanueva could face a DUI manslaughter charge, based on the results of toxicology tests.
Her family released a statement that reads: "The Villanueva family is exceedingly saddened by the events of this past Sunday and Ivanna Villanueva is grief stricken over the trafic accident. Everyone in the family wishes to convey their deepest sympathies to the Ayala family at this very, very sad time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them."