Man who killed almost entire family in drunk driving crash found guilty of murder
A Modesto man is facing a possible 120-year prison sentence for killing nearly an entire family when he drove drunk into a south Modesto home in 2019.
Following a seven-day jury trial last month, Felix Ferdin, 49, was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the deaths of Mari Luz Jacinto Hernandez, 38, and her children, 10-year-old Yoseline Vega, 5-year-old Eileen Lopez Jacinto and 3-year-old Alexa Sanchez.
Jorge Sanchez, Hernandez’s husband, father to the youngest girls and stepfather to Yoseline, was the only survivor. He was not home at the time of the crash.
The mother and her three daughters were asleep in a bedroom of their home in the 1200 block of Sam Avenue at 1:30 a.m. on June 9, 2019, when Ferdin crashed into it.
Hernandez and her two youngest daughters died shortly after the crash. Yoseline survived in a hospital for a week before passing away.
According to a press release from the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, Ferdin drank about seven beers during a barbecue at his home the night of the crash.
At one point during the barbecue, he became angry and told attendees, “I don’t care. I’m gonna die. I don’t care about nobody.”
Ferdin got into his vehicle and drove off with a blood alcohol content of close to twice the legal limit, according to the press release. He also had methamphetamine and cocaine in his system.
Ferdin hit a parked vehicle and came close to hitting another, then sped away down Holm Avenue, where he ran a stop sign and reached speeds of 78 mph in the 25 mph residential zone, according to the press release.
He ran a second stop sign at Herndon Road, where Holm dead-ends, and drove directly into the back of the family’s home.
Ferdin tried to back his vehicle out of the damaged home but couldn’t, according to the press release. He has been in custody since the crash.
Multiple officers, firefighters and medical personnel from the Ceres Police Department, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, Ceres Fire Department, Modesto Fire Department and the California Highway Patrol responded to the scene to pull the victims from the rubble and debris in the bedroom.
Sentencing for Ferdin is scheduled for next month. He is facing a maximum sentence of 120 years to life in state prison.
