Macon man pleads guilty to 'death by vehicle' charges
A man driving drunk who crashed his pickup truck into a Sylva woman’s car, killing her a short time after she completed her work shift at a Dollar General in Scaly Mountain, is headed to state prison.
District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said Oscar Heriberto Rios Ruiz, 22, pleaded guilty to felony death by vehicle Thursday in Macon County Superior Court.
The Scaly Mountain resident will spend a minimum of 56 months and a maximum of 80 months behind bars, with 598 days pre-trial credit.
Rene Waller, 29, died in the Oct. 13, 2018, wreck on N.C. 106, at about 11 p.m. near Buck Knob Road. The crash impact of Ruiz’s Ford F-150 spun around Waller’s southbound car, repositioning the small passenger vehicle on the two-lane highway as if headed northbound.
Ruiz fled the crash scene. Law enforcement officers found him at his home nearby in his bed and huddled under a blanket.
The officers reported a strong odor of alcohol; Ruiz’s eyes were glossy and red and he was swaying while standing. At the crash scene, alcohol containers were strewn across the road and more were found in the pickup’s truck bed.
Ruiz’s breathalyzer test, conducted about four hours after the wreck, measured .11. The legal limit is .08.
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Bill Coward ordered Ruiz pay a civil judgement of $4,865 for funeral expenses and fined him $100,000.
N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Michael Gerra led the investigation. Assistant District Attorney Jason Arnold prosecuted the case.
