Second Novato woman dies from alleged DUI crash

An alleged DUI crash that killed a Novato woman and landed her daughter in jail has led to another death: the driver’s aunt.

Flor Vasquez, 60, of Novato was pronounced dead early Friday morning at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, according to the Sonoma County coroner’s office. Vasquez had been in the hospital since Feb. 11, when she was ejected from a vehicle during a crash on Highway 101 in Petaluma, police said.

The driver was Vasquez’s niece, Kenia Marcela Alegria, 41, of Novato, the California Highway Patrol said. The other passenger who died was Alegria’s mother, 61-year-old Teresa Renderos of Novato.

Authorities could not confirm Friday whether Vasquez and Renderos were sisters.

Alegria has been charged with murdering Renderos. Prosecutors can file murder charges in some DUI cases when the driver has a prior history of intoxicated driving. Alegria was on probation for a DUI conviction in Marin County in 2023, according to court records.

The prosecution also has charged Alegria with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and committing a second intoxicated driving offense within seven years of another DUI.

Authorities allege Alegria’s blood-alcohol level was 0.20% or more. The legal limit is 0.08%, but Alegria’s probation terms prohibited her from driving with any alcohol in her system.

An initial hearing was held Thursday in Sonoma County Superior Court. Alegria’s case was assigned to a public defender and she did not enter a plea. A judge set the plea hearing for March 5.

The Sonoma County public defender did not respond to a request for comment.

Alegria is being held without bail at the county jail in Santa Rosa.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to an inquiry on whether Alegria’s charges would be amended in light of the second fatality.