The drunk driver who killed a National City man a year ago pleaded guilty Feb. 26 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Oscar Melero, 52, was killed Feb. 15, 2015, while he was waiting in his car to participate in the California 10/20 run on Interstate 5 near Del Mar. Abraham Granados Beltran, 25, of San Juan Capistrano, struck Melero’s car at approximately 75 mph.
Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright said Beltran faces a stipulated sentence of 14 years and eight months in state prison. Beltran also pleaded guilty to injuring another driver in the collision.
Sentencing was set for April 20 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles Rogers. Beltran remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility on $1 million bail.
A second-degree murder charge was added to the charges last May, but was dropped Friday when Beltran pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter. Beltran didn’t have a valid driver’s license at the time because it was revoked due to several drunk driving convictions in Orange County in 2011 and 2012.
“He was very much beloved,” said Bright, of Melero, who was a popular hairdresser in Hillcrest.
Melero was inside his BMW, which was stopped in traffic at 7 a.m. when it was struck by Beltran’s sedan. Beltran’s trial had been set for April and he could have faced a life term if he was convicted of murder.
