A man who was driving drunk and crashed his pickup truck into a Sylva woman’s car, killing her a short time after she completed her work shift at the Dollar General in Scaly Mountain, is headed to state prison.
According to district attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch, Oscar Heriberto Rios Ruiz, 22, pleaded guilty to felony death by vehicle Thursday in Macon County Superior Court.
The Scaly Mountain resident will spend a minimum of 56 months and a maximum of 80 months behind bars, with 598 days pre-trial credit.
“The sentence the defendant received is close to the maximum allowed under the law,” Welch said. “The victim’s husband requested we accept the plea deal offered by the defense so that he could try to move on with his life.”
Rene Waller, 29, died in the Oct. 13, 2018, wreck on NC 106, at about 11 p.m. near Buck Knob Road. The crash impact of Ruiz’s Ford F-150 spun around Waller’s southbound car, repositioning the small passenger vehicle on the two-lane highway pointed northbound.
Ruiz fled the crash scene. Law enforcement officers found him at his home nearby in his bed and huddled under a blanket.
The officers reported a strong odor of alcohol, Ruiz’s eyes were glassy and red and he was swaying while standing. At the crash scene, alcohol containers were strewn across the road and more were found in the pickup’s truck bed.
Ruiz’s Breathalyzer test, conducted about four hours after the wreck, measured 0.11. The legal limit is 0.08.
Superior Court Judge Bill Coward ordered Ruiz pay a civil judgment of $4,865 for funeral expenses and fined him $100,000.
North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper Michael Gerra led the investigation. Assistant District Attorney Jason Arnold prosecuted the case.