Inset: Sonal N. Patel (Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area on Interstate 85 where Patel caused a fatal car crash (Google Maps).
A 40-year-old woman in Georgia will spend several years behind bars for killing a father of two last year after she drove while intoxicated and sleep-deprived, falling asleep behind the wheel and causing a fatal collision.
A judge in Gwinnett County ordered Sonal Nandkishor Patel to serve seven years in a state correctional facility in connection with the February 2024 death of Omar Ortiz.
Patel's sentence was handed down after she reached a deal with prosecutors in the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office and pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular homicide and one count of driving under the influence (DUI). Following her release, Patel will be required to serve an additional 18 years on probation.
During the proceedings, prosecutors said that at the time of the fatal collision, Patel had not slept for two days, was drunk, and was under the influence of Trazodone, a prescription drug used to treat severe depression and anxiety, according to a report from Athens news radio station WGAU.
Ortiz had moved to the U.S. from Cuba only about a week before the crash. He was the passenger in a car being driven by a female relative named Leticia Almaguer. Almaguer was reportedly driving Ortiz home on Interstate 85 near Flowery Branch Road at about 4 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2024, when they slammed into Patel's stationary vehicle.
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Authorities said that due to the effects of the drugs and alcohol, Patel had stopped her car in the middle of the interstate and fallen asleep behind the wheel.
Emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and transported Almaguer and Patel to the hospital, but Ortiz was pronounced dead at the scene.
"All that made her stop her vehicle in the middle of a travel lane and caused a severe accident," Juan Madiedo of Gwinnett County Police Department told the station.
Police said they recovered cocaine from inside the vehicle Patel was driving and later learned that she did not have a valid driver's license. Patel also had a prior arrest for DUI in 2007.
Despite the evidence against her, Patel was able to bond out of pretrial detention two separate times, drawing the ire of the victim's family.
"We are very disappointed that she was able to bond out because she is a repeat offender," attorney Karina Deochand, who represented the family, told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB. "She is on the hook for a life."
Almaguer also spoke to WSB, telling the station that Ortiz had moved to the U.S. with the hope of creating a better future for his two children.
"He came to give a great future to the kids," she reportedly told the station, adding that now, "his girl and boy are going to grow up without a dad."
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