MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A Wisconsin man will spend nearly two decades in prison after a drunken, wrong-way crash on Interstate 43 ended a pregnant woman’s hopes of becoming a mother.
Jorge Alvarez-Mathuzima, 40, was sentenced to 17 years in prison followed by eight years of probation on Friday after pleading guilty to first-degree reckless homicide, according to court records.
The crash happened just before 4:30 a.m. on October 26, when Alvarez-Mathuzima drove the wrong way down I-43 and slammed head-on into the woman’s vehicle. The impact set her car ablaze, trapping her inside until a Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputy managed to pull her out.
The woman, who was roughly five and a half months pregnant at the time, survived her injuries. Her unborn baby did not.
Prosecutors say Alvarez-Mathuzima’s blood alcohol level was nearly double the legal limit when he got behind the wheel. Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Grant Huebner told the court the defendant had been drinking while watching the World Series before the crash.
According to Huebner, Alvarez-Mathuzima ignored several warning signs marking the wrong direction, passed multiple oncoming vehicles, and drove by a sheriff’s deputy before colliding with the woman’s car. He said the crash took away the victim’s chance at motherhood.
Speaking at his sentencing, Alvarez-Mathuzima expressed remorse and asked the victim for forgiveness, saying he wished he could trade places with her and take on her injuries himself, including the loss of her unborn son.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Swanson acknowledged the numerous letters submitted in support of the defendant’s character but said they didn’t outweigh the severity of his actions that night. He told Alvarez-Mathuzima he had taken a reckless and dangerous risk with the lives of everyone on the road that early morning.