Jose Lumbreras, 25, has pleaded no contest on two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the deaths of 22-year-old UC Berkeley graduate Milanca Lopez and her 6-year-old son, Xavier Chevez. The Alameda County District Attorney’s office is requesting the maximum 12 years in prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick.

“It is a tremendous relief to know this particular chapter has come to a close without the trauma of what we knew would be a painful trial for her family and friends,” said Rue Mapp, a UC Berkeley graduate and neighbor of Lopez, in an email. “We will continue to celebrate Milanca and Xavier’s lives and remember the beautiful friend and mother she was in our community.”

Paul Wolf, Lumbreras’ defense attorney, disagrees with the prosecution’s pursuit of the maximum sentence. He said Lumbreras has suffered greatly from the accident and that 12 years is too severe for the crime.

“Jose has never denied nor sought to shirk his responsibility for the damage and pain for which he has shared and continues to experience,” Wolf said. “He loved both of them. It’s an accident, and he’s responsible for it.”

Wolf will argue for a lighter penalty during Lumbreras’ sentencing on June 11.

At approximately 1 a.m. on May 18, 2012, Lumbreras drove into a tree in central Berkeley, killing Lopez and seriously injuring Chevez. According to police, his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.

Chevez was placed on life support and died from his injuries one week later at Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland.

Prior to her death, Lopez and her son lived in university student housing at University Village in Albany. Lopez began studying at UC Berkeley in 2007 and was planning to begin a master’s program for teaching at UCLA following her graduation.

Lumbreras came to UC Berkeley in 2010 after receiving a degree in sociology from UC Santa Barbara. He received a graduate degree from UC Berkeley’s ethnic studies department not long before the accident.

The couple was allegedly drinking in celebration of their recent graduations prior to the collision, Wolf said.

Lumbreras is currently being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, and his bail is set at $200,000, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office inmate locator.

“It’s one of the most tragic cases I’ve ever been involved in, and I’ve been a criminal defense lawyer for 37 years,” Wolf said. “It caused nearly intolerable injury and loss to three people and their respective families.”

Andy Nguyen is the lead crime reporter. Contact him at anguyen@dailycal.org
and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Truc.

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According to police, Lumbreras’ blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit when the car he was driving car crashed into a tree in central Berkeley shortly after 1 a.m. on May 18, killing 22-year-old UC Berkeley alumna Milanca Lopez and seriously injuring her six-year-old son, Xavier Chevez.

Xavier died Friday at Children’s Hospital Oakland after being comatose for a week following the accident.

The Alameda County District Attorney originally charged Lumbreras with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and drunken driving causing injury but amended the charges Wednesday to include a second count of manslaughter.

Deputy District Attorney Teresa Drenick said that although the charges were amended, Lumbreras did not appear in court for his scheduled hearing on Wednesday because he is still in the hospital with injuries sustained in the accident.

Adelyn Baxter is the news editor.

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Xavier Chevez had been on life support with minor brain function since the accident, in which the car he and his mother were passengers in hit a tree near a traffic circle on California Street in Downtown Berkeley. The car was being driven by Lopez’s boyfriend and UC Berkeley graduate student Jose Lumbreras, 33, whose blood alcohol level at the time was more than twice the legal limit, according to Alameda County court documents.

Lopez was found dead at the scene, while Lumbreras and Xavier were both rushed to medical centers with serious injuries. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau confirmed Monday that Xavier died around 6:30 p.m. Friday at Children’s Hospital Oakland.

Xavier and his mother lived in student housing at University Village in Albany since Lopez began studying at UC Berkeley in 2007. Xavier walked with his mother at her commencement ceremony earlier in the month. Lopez planned to begin a master’s program for teaching at UCLA in the fall.

“Milanca and Xavier were remarkable people who against all odds were moving on to an exciting season at UCLA graduate school,” said UC Berkeley alumna Lily Pineda, in a Facebook post on the memorial page created after Milanca’s death.

Lumbreras has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and drunken driving causing injury by the Alameda County district attorney.

“Xavier believed that there shouldn’t be any borders among people,” said Xavier’s father Javier Chevez, in a post on gofundme.com, where family members have set up a donation fund for Xavier’s family. “(He believed) that we should all love each other no matter what. He has left a big impact on the Berkeley community.”

Adelyn Baxter is the news editor.

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