Family of DUI victim demands justice

Dozens of friends and family members of a 26-year-old Cloverdale woman killed by a suspected drunken driver appeared in court Tuesday carrying large color pictures of her and calling for justice for the man prosecutors say is responsible for her death.

Crystal Carillo-Martinez was killed Friday when her Honda Civic collided with a Ford Explorer driven by Jose Botello-Soto of Geyserville, also 26, who had gone the wrong way up an Highway 101 offramp, the CHP said.

“I think he should just go to jail forever,” said Elizabeth Travelstead, Carillo-Martinez's twin sister as she waited outside the District Attorney's office with a large gathering. “He needs to suffer the consequences.”

Moments earlier, Botello-Soto made his first court appearance on charges of felony vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving, driving on the wrong side of the road and misdemeanor driving without a license.

He could go to prison for 10 years if convicted, Deputy District Attorney Karina Kowler said.

Botello-Soto stood in a blue jail jumpsuit when Judge Elliot Daum called his case, but he didn't enter a plea. That could come at the next hearing, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Daum set bail at $500,000. Botello-Soto also was placed on an immigration hold because he is suspected of being in the country illegally.

The crash happened about 9 p.m. Friday as Carillo-Martinez, an x-ray technician, drove from the home she shared with her parents and sister to a Halloween costume party.

She was southbound on Highway 101 near Healdsburg when Botello-Soto came charging up the offramp, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said.

“We have good witnesses that plainly saw him coming up at a high rate of speed, accelerating,” said Sloat.

The driver didn't brake before he smashed into her car. The CHP investigation determined he believed he was entering the highway in the proper direction so accelerated as one would to get up to speed when entering a highway, said Sloat.

Later, Botello-Soto admitted he had been drinking at a friend's home in Healdsburg before he got into his car, Sloat said.

Results from a blood-alcohol test were pending.

A funeral Mass for Carillo-Martinez is planned for 10 a.m. today at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Asti.

Carillo-Martinez was raised in Cloverdale and attended Santa Rosa Junior College and Dominican University in San Rafael before relocating to the San Diego area for additional schooling, he sister said.

She returned to Sonoma County about two years ago and was employed as an x-ray technician at Redwood Orthopedic.

Carillo-Martinez taught catechism and was hoping to get married someday and have children, he sister said.

For the Halloween costume party, she dressed as Jem, the animated star of a 1980s TV series, she said.

Travelstead called her death “murder.” She said her parents were too grief-stricken to attend the hearing.

“We're here to make sure justice is done,” she said.