Woman Gets 3 Years for Fatal Crash with Cyclist

A Riverside woman on Friday was sentenced to three years in prison for driving while intoxicated and killing a bicyclist in a 2009 crash in Newport Beach, the Orange County District Attorney's Office reported.

On Feb. 1, Patricia Ann Izquieta, 38, pleaded guilty to felony hit and run, felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and misdemeanor driving without a valid license with a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury. She will have to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence, Deputy District Attorney Jason Baez said.

Izquieta was driving northbound in the far right-hand lane of Jamboree Road about 6 a.m. Dec. 9, 2009, authorities said. She drifted toward the curb and hit bicyclist Donald Murphy, 49, who was riding along the curb behind two friends. Murphy was thrown from the bike into the curb. He died a day later from severe head and neck injuries.

Dragging Murphy's bike along the way, Izquieta drove more than a mile to the parking lot of a CoCo's Bakery Restaurant, the D.A.'s office said. Police later arrested her in the parking lot. Izquieta's driving was impaired by prescription medications she took, including Methadone, Hydromorphone, and Clonezepam, authorities said.

Murphy's daughter, Chandler Murphy, told the judge the victim was a dedicated father.

Donald Murphy also volunteered much of his time helping recovering addicts at halfway houses, Baez said.

"He had done that for a long time and he was really involved in his daughter's life,'' he said.

Murphy's friend, David Slaton, who was riding with him the day of the accident, told the judge about having to see his friend on the ground unable to move while Izquieta drove off with the bicycle under the vehicle.

— City News Service contributed to this report