Hector Ortiz was remembered by his family as a man who loved music, dancing and carpentry.
“He had a way to make people feel loved and special,” said his aunt, Jovita Herrera. “His hugs were like Heaven.”
But she and other family members said his death in a drunken driving crash has devastated the family, and they wanted the driver who was responsible to face the maximum penalty.
Yakima County Superior Court Judge Elisabeth Tutsch sentenced Sarahi Barron to four years and eight months in prison Monday, less than the 6 1/2 years prosecutors sought, but significantly more than the 18 months Barron’s attorneys asked for.
Barron, 21, of Grandview pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in Ortiz’s death.
She was driving her car in the 1900 block of Schuster Road shortly before 1 a.m. Aug. 4, 2022, and lost control in a turn, rolling her vehicle into a ditch. Ortiz, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
He was 18.
Barron admitted to Yakima County sheriff’s deputies that she had been drinking, according to a probable cause affidavit, and a blood-alcohol test showed that she had a 0.10 blood-alcohol content reading, which was 25% more than the legal standard for intoxication.
Ortiz’s blood alcohol registered at 0.17, the affidavit said.
Sentence
As part of the plea agreement, Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Fisher recommended that Barron receive a 78-month sentence, which was the low end of the 78-102-month range under state sentencing guidelines.
Fisher said the sentence was “just and necessary” based on the facts, and considering potentially mitigating factors, but none that he said warranted giving Barron a sentence below the standard range.
“Sympathy for the defendant cannot erase what happened in this case,” Fisher said. “Sympathy for the defendant cannot erase the fact that Mr. Ortiz is gone.
“The facts in this case are why the standard range is what it is.”
Ulvar Klein, Barron’s attorney, said the facts also support a more lenient sentence, with possibly the bulk of it being served on community custody rather than in prison.
Klein said Barron had a rough childhood, including a stint in foster care, but managed to get mentored, graduate from an alternative high school and receive a full-ride scholarship to Heritage University.
“And then everything blew up because of that night,” Klein said.
He said Barron was not the only person who made bad decisions the night Ortiz died. Stressing that he was not speaking ill of Ortiz, Klein said Ortiz left a gathering with his family, even though Ortiz’s father said he should stay.
“There could have been a more strong effort to keep them there at Hector’s father’s house,” Klein said. “But at (Barron’s) age and with her history, essentially she said she was not in a position to say no. I don’t want to be too genderist or sexist, but he was the man, he’s the strong one, and he’s telling her no, we’re gonna go.”
He said Ortiz did allow Barron to drive, as she seemed to be the more sober of the two.
At the crash scene, deputies said that Barron was running around looking for Ortiz, even though he was right in front of her dead on the road, Klein said, a sign of the shock she was in.
Family statements
Julia Ortiz, Ortiz’s mother, said that Barron has showed no remorse toward her family. Barron, she said, showed up at Ortiz’s viewing when she was told not to come, and Barron also approached them later at the cemetery.
“She was asked to show respect, but she smirked. A person with a bit of remorse or guilt would not have done that,” Julia Ortiz said. “(Barron) said she had done nothing wrong and that is why she was not in jail, and she was smirking and laughing.
“And now there she sits, hoping to get a slap on the wrist ... where she has destroyed my life.”
Klein said that Barron went to Ortiz’s grave to pay her respects to him, not to taunt his family. He said that Barron, who was diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, is remorseful.
“When she comes to our office, we have to let her know that her life is not over,” Klein said.
He asked Tutsch to impose an 18-month sentence, with five years of community custody, saying that 6 1/2 years in prison was too long.
Barron’s family and friends also asked for leniency.
“She is a good girl,” Luz Barron, her mother said. “She had made bad decisions.” Klein had to admonish Luz Barron when she said her daughter was innocent and suggested that Ortiz bore blame for his death.
Felix Almonte, a pastor, said that Barron has since come to her senses and is trying to forge a better path for herself in life.
“I know that she is in the judge’s hands, and in God’s hands,” Almonte said through a court interpreter.
Barron told Tutsch she was sorry for what had happened, and wished she could take it back.
“Even in this situation I have nobody to guide me,” Barron said. “I’m trying to navigate life the best I can.”
Tutsch used her discretion to impose a lower sentence, noting that Barron had worked hard to get herself into college on scholarship, but said that Ortiz’s death was a loss for both his family and the community.
She also denied Klein’s request to allow Barron to report at a later date for detention, as she was now in the custody of the state Department of Corrections. Sheriff’s court deputies handcuffed Barron and led her from the courtroom.
