Elizabeth (left) and Jazmin Cano were killed when their vehicle was struck by a truck in the Bay Terraces area of San Diego.
A driver who fled the scene after crashing his pickup truck into a car in Bay Terraces last year, killing two sisters in the other vehicle, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges.
Tony Garcia, 55, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of DUI for the crash that killed Elizabeth Higuera Cano, 25, and Jazmin Higuera Cano, 23 on Munda Road in the early morning hours of May 14, 2023. A hit-and-run charge was dropped, according to charging documents.
Prosecutors allege Garcia ran a red light and crashed his Ford F-150 into a Honda Civic as the Civic's driver was turning left on a green left arrow light. Garcia's truck traveled through the intersection and broadsided the Civic. The Civic's driver and another passenger were also injured.
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Garcia then fled on foot, prosecutors said. Garcia turned himself in "several hours" after the crash, according to San Diego police.
Elizabeth and Jazmin were the oldest of five siblings. Daniel Jimenez, the husband of 25-year-old Elizabeth Higuera Cano, told NBC 7 after the crash he and his wife have two young girls and were expecting again.
“My wife was actually pregnant, and that’s why they were out so late," Jimenez said. "They were out celebrating because it was Mother’s Day."
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Garcia is slated to be sentenced next month to 14 years and eight months in state prison, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.
