CHULA VISTA (CNS) - A woman who drove drunk and killed a 15-year-old girl and her mother's boyfriend by striking them on a National City street was sentenced Thursday to 30 years to life in state prison.
Tayishe Baltys, 46, was convicted by a Chula Vista jury of two counts of murder, plus other charges, for the June 22, 2022, deaths of Jessica Talamante and Brian McKee, who were struck at around 10 p.m. on East Plaza Boulevard while walking home after shopping at a nearby 7-Eleven.
Talamante died at the scene, while McKee was taken to a hospital, where he died. Talamante's sister was also walking with the victims and narrowly avoided being struck by Baltys' car, according to prosecutors.
Baltys was charged with murder due to having a prior DUI conviction. She pleaded guilty in that case and was sentenced to probation in 2020.
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Deputy District Attorney Mary Loeb told jurors that prior to the crash, Baltys spent around three hours drinking with co-workers at a Dave & Buster's restaurant in Mission Valley. The prosecutor contended that after driving away from the restaurant, intoxication caused Baltys to end up in National City, despite her living nearer to Mission Valley.
At the crash scene, Baltys repeatedly denied drinking to responding officers, though Loeb said she had a blood-alcohol content of about 0.16%, which is two times the legal driving limit in California.
Baltys took the stand during the trial and admitted drinking before getting behind the wheel and lying to the officers, but denied feeling affected by the alcohol or that it rendered her too intoxicated to drive.
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Her defense attorneys argued that her drinking was not a major factor in the fatalities.
One of her attorneys, Colby Ryan, told jurors the crash was unavoidable due to "pitch black" conditions that even a sober driver would not be able to manage. He also said the victims crossed the road outside of the crosswalk and were wearing dark clothing.
Baltys told the victims' families in attendance at Chula Vista Superior Court on Thursday that she was "sincerely, utterly apologetic" and "I may never have the words to express how remorseful I am and I'll live with this guilt for the rest of my life."
Defense attorney Liann Sabatini asked Superior Court Judge Carlos Varela to run the two murder sentences concurrently for a total prison term of 15 years to life.
The defense attorney argued that sentences should not just consider punishing defendants, but also their potential for rehabilitation, which Sabatini said her client had shown through her work as a hospice nurse and her conduct while jailed in the current case.
Judge Varela opted to run the sentences consecutively, noting the "eerily similar" circumstances of the fatal DUI to her prior conviction, in which she also mistakenly drove to the wrong city.
"You made a series of disastrous mistakes," the judge told Baltys, while calling the 2022 DUI "an extremely tragic case with two innocent lives taken."
Kristen White, mother to Jessica Talamante and girlfriend to McKee, said in a statement read aloud in court, "Their lives were taken in an instant because of a reckless and selfish decision."
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