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Man Convicted Of Second Degree Murder In Fatal DUI Car Crash In Ventura County

A Ventura County man has been found guilty of second degree murder for a car crash which killed one person, and seriously injured a second.

Prosecutors say Jose Luis Rodriguez had left a bar, and was driving southbound on Victoria Avenue outside of Ventura when he hit speeds of more than 120 miles an hour. The Oxnard man lost control of the vehicle, and crashed. Esmeralda Bello was fatally injured, and Sergio Lemus-Martinez was seriously injured. Investigators say Rodriguez’s blood-alcohol level was nearly double the legal limit at the time of the crash.

The 29 year old Oxnard man could get up to a 18 years to life sentence when he’s sentenced in January.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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