SAN DIEGO — A motorist who was driving nearly 100 mph when she collided with and killed a motorcyclist on Interstate 8 near the Sunset Cliffs exit will be sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Claudia Gissela Herrera, 28, of San Diego agreed to a plea bargain to avoid a second-degree murder charge that carried a much longer term, according to court records. She will be sentenced Oct. 14. Killed in the Oct. 26, 2009 accident was Eric Sean Enockson, 36, of San Diego. Enockson reportedly worked in a laboratory. Herrera pleaded guilty to rear-ending the motorcycle around 2 a.m. before fleeing the scene. San Diego police arrested Herrera on West Point Loma Boulevard soon after the collision. Court records show Herrera was driving on a suspended license that night after having it revoked in 2008. She also had a drunken-driving conviction in 2002. Herrera’s blood/alcohol level in the 2009 fatal crash was 0.14 — or nearly 1½ times the legal limit of 0.08, according to records. San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles Gill dismissed the second-degree murder charge after Herrera pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter. Had she been convicted of second-degree murder, however, she would have faced a sentence of 15 years to life with a much a longer period of time to wait for the possibility of parole. Deputy District Attorney Amy Maund said that under the conditions of the current plea bargain, Herrera must serve 85 percent of the 15-year term, or close to 13 years. She was originally charged with second-degree murder, in part, due to her driving history. Herrera is being held on $1 million bail.
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