Driver arrested, suspected of DUI after passenger is killed in collision off 215 Freeway in Murrieta

MURRIETA – A motorist whose car slammed into a tree adjacent to the 215 Freeway in Murrieta, fatally injuring one of her passengers and leaving three others with major injuries, was allegedly drunk at the wheel, authorities said Monday.

Andrea Margarita Villalta, 28, of Los Angeles was arrested and booked into the Byrd Detention Center on Saturday morning on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter from intoxication, felony DUI and DUI resulting in injuries. Villalta posted a $60,000 bond and was released later the same day.

According to the California Highway Patrol, around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, the suspect was driving her 2022 Toyota Prius southbound on the 215 at an unconfirmed speed when she inexplicably “steered the Toyota onto the right shoulder and began traveling on the shoulder.”

“The Toyota crashed into a tree at a high rate of speed west of the freeway traffic lanes,” CHP Officer Mike Lassig said.

No other vehicles were involved.

Murrieta Fire & Rescue personnel reached the location within minutes and pronounced one of the passengers, 30-year-old Brandy Joya of Riverside, dead at the scene.

Lassig said that the three other passengers — identified only as a 25-year-old Los Angeles woman, a 28-year-old Los Angeles woman and a 28-year-old San Diego man — suffered extensive injuries and were taken to a regional trauma center for treatment. The victims remained in serious condition Monday.

Villalta was determined by officers at the scene to be intoxicated, Lassig alleged, and she was taken into custody without incident. Because she had suffered a minor injury, she was briefly hospitalized but booked into jail by Saturday afternoon. She posted bond a short time later and was let go.

Background information on the suspect was not available.

Anyone with information relevant to the investigation was asked to contact the CHP’s Temecula office at 951-466-4300.