After two days of deliberations, a jury convicted a woman on May 26 of second-degree murder in the drowning death of her passenger after she crashed her parents’ BMW through a guardrail on Sea World Drive while driving drunk.

The seven-man, five-woman jury also found Jennifer Rae Xavier, 23, guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of Sidnie Waller (above), 21, of Point Loma, after both women had visited a bar in Pacific Beach on March 4, 2021.

Xavier faces a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in state prison when she is sentenced on Aug. 25 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh.

Xavier wept as she looked at her parents in the audience who appeared to be profoundly stunned and saddened.

“I only wanted justice. My only hope is she finally learns her lesson,” said Donald Waller, the father of Sidnie Waller, who attended the trial daily, but has since returned to Florida.

Waller said he takes no satisfaction in knowing Xavier will be imprisoned. “I’m not elated. I don’t have that hatred inside me,” he said.

Waller said he was able to view the reading of the verdict online. “I broke down when I heard the (verdict) of the (murder) charge. I was relieved,” he said.

Waller said his son, Jacob, 21, was at the airport Friday in San Diego on his way to Florida but could view the verdict on his phone.

Jurors also found Xavier guilty of hit and run because she left the scene of a traffic fatality. She grabbed her purse and jacket, but was very wet, and then dropped those items, and somehow got up the ravine, where she got a ride with a motorist.

The motorist called 911, as Xavier was too intoxicated to explain what happened and she kept saying she wanted to go home. Police officers talked to her and they eventually took her home to an apartment near San Diego State University, but she did not mention the BMW, which was overturned, or anything about Sidnie, according to testimony.

Jurors deadlocked on a fourth charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and a tranquilizer as Waller texted her brother and a friend, saying she believed Xavier also had taken a tranquilizer that night as well as drinking alcohol.

Deputy District Attorney Philippa Cunningham made a motion to dismiss the DUI charge that was unresolved and Deddeh granted that.

“I’m happy the jurors were able to return a just verdict for Sidnie and her family,” said Cunningham afterward. “They worked hard. They spent so much time.”

Jurors did not stay afterward to talk with any of the attorneys. The verdict was announced on the Friday before the Memorial Day holiday and a lot of people were exiting the building early.

A reporter approached Xavier’s parents and other family members in a hallway. They appeared to be deeply saddened. A woman said, “They don’t want to talk with anyone.”

The trial began May 11 with written testimony from Sidnie Waller herself as she sent text messages during that drive minutes before she was killed to her brother and a friend. She described how scared she was of Xavier’s driving because she was intoxicated and how she nearly hit five cars.

Xavier never testified but her attorney, G. Cole Casey, presented two witnesses and argued there was no evidence she had taken a tranquilizer. One witness talked about how Xavier appeared to have some type of amnesia which might have explained why she didn’t mention Waller was still inside the overturned car.

The jury only asked one question about evidence relating to the tranquilizer. Deddeh referred them to another jury instruction. They did not request any readback of any witness testimony.

They began their discussions at 4 p.m. on May 23 after a full day of closing arguments and instructions.

Xavier has remained in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility without bail.