Man Charged with Killing Girl in Taco Stand Crash While Driving on Nitrous Oxide

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LOS ANGELES — A man has been charged with killing a young girl in a car crash at a taco stand while he was driving under the influence of nitrous oxide last year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced today.

Joe Louis Perez of Boyle Heights was charged with one felony count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of a drug causing injury. The charges include allegations of causing great bodily injury.

On Nov. 10, 2017, Perez was driving a car on Whittier Boulevard in Boyle Heights when he allegedly collided with a parked vehicle near Marietta Street, prosecutors said. The impact caused the second car to go over the curb and hit a group of people gathered at a taco stand, killing 11-year-old Elektra Yepez, a resident of the neighborhood.

The girl’s mother and two aunts also were injured in the crash. None of the four passengers who were in the defendant’s vehicle was seriously injured.

Perez is accused of driving under the influence of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, resulting in the collision, prosecutors said. He was arrested at the scene.

Perez faces a possible maximum sentence of 13 years and eight months in state prison if convicted as charged. Prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $230,000.

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