Convicted Drunk Driver Sentenced To 18 Years To Life Behind Bars

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — A repeat drunken driver was sentenced Friday to 18 years to life in prison for killing a 76-year-old woman and injuring her blind grandson on the 4th of July in San Clemente.

Kelly Michele Wolfe, 47, of Dana Point was convicted on Sept. 28 of second-degree murder and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary Paer said "This case is unbelievable. She's driving at .31 (percent of blood-alcohol level), almost four times the legal limit. Insanity at its best."

"The hardest thing that I have with this whole situation is that she didn't stop and take care of responsibility. There's no remorse," said the victim's daughter Martha Demchuk.

But Wolfe did tearfully apologized to the victim's family later. "Saying I am sorry for what happened will not be enough. But I am so very sorry for what happened everyday since then," Wolfe said. "The remorse I have is a sentence I will live with every day of my life. I pray every night God gives your family the comfort that only he can."

Her attorney, Louis Pilato, argued again Friday that there was no evidence his client was drunk at the time of the collision and that she should have been charged with manslaughter instead.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said Wolfe was driving a Volkswagon van that struck Marthann Demchuk of Monrovia and her 12-year-old grandson, Mason Fessenden, on El Camino Real, just south of Camino Capistrano at about 8:30 p.m. on July 4, 2013.

Prosecutors said Demchuk was standing in the gutter while her grandson was on the curb holding her arm. They were watching fireworks.

Fessenden suffered minor injuries. He said: "Eventually, I will be able to see her in heaven."

Demchuk's death "has left a gaping hole in my life," the victim's son, Matthew Demchuk, said.

Wolfe has a prior DUI conviction from Nevada in 1995.