Lake Elsinore Man Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Racing Death

A Lake Elsinore man pleaded guilty Friday to vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run causing death in a street racing incident in which his cousin died, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Luis Eduardo Garcia, 26, entered his guilty pleas at the Southwest Justice Center. Two other felonies and one misdemeanor were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, the DA’s office announced.

Garcia was immediately sentenced to three years in state prison. The vehicular manslaughter conviction is a strike under California’s Three Strikes Law.

On the afternoon of March 4, Garcia was driving a 2005 Honda convertible when he saw his cousin, driving his 2002 BMW. The two then began to race and Estrada was ejected from the BMW and died at the scene.

Garcia had slowed down briefly after the crash, but then sped away, according to the DA’s office.

An investigation by Lake Elsinore police resulted in Garcia being arrested about 15 hours later.

On Friday, Garcia also pled guilty to a separate misdemeanor DUI case and received 180 days in county jail for that conviction. The sentence will run at the same time as his sentence in the felony case.

Both cases were prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney David Tahan of the Vehicular Homicide Unit.