Kearns woman pleads guilty to DUI crash that killed 5-year-old girl

KEARNS — A Kearns woman has pleaded guilty to murder in the death of a 5-year-old girl in a crash she caused while driving under the influence.

On Jan. 14, 2024, Charmayne Huerta Guzman, 26, was driving an estimated 77 mph in a 35 mph zone in her Kia Sorento near 4800 West and 5200 South on a wet road when she “was observed passing another vehicle on a blind corner, and in a no-passing zone,” according to charging documents.

Guzman, who had a “‘donut’ spare tire” on the front passenger side of her car, “failed to maintain control of her vehicle and entered the northbound lane,” where she struck a Volkswagen Jetta “in a 60% overlap head-on collision,” the charges state.

A father, his 5-year-old daughter and his 7-year-old son who were in the Volkswagen were all taken to a hospital. The girl, Lennyn Lillic, suffered a traumatic brain injury and skull fractures and succumbed to her injuries about a week later.

When questioned, Guzman told police she and her passenger “were drinking and headed home.” When asked how much she had to drink, Guzman responded, “Too much,” according to the charges.

Witnesses also told officers they saw the passenger “removing bottles from the vehicle after the accident and hiding them in the bushes behind the church located on the west side of the street,” the charges state, adding that “an empty 40-ounce bottle and an empty 12-ounce bottle of alcohol” were located.

Guzman’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.241%, or nearly five times the legal limit. Prosecutors say she has previously been convicted of impaired driving and was driving on a denied license and without insurance at the time of the crash.

Court records show Guzman was charged five times in 2023 with driving on a denied or invalid license. She was also charged in one case with driving 78 mph in a 55 mph zone; going 101 mph in an 80 mph zone in a second case; and driving 93 mph in a 70 mph zone in a third incident in 2023, according to court records.

Guzman was originally charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony, but the charges were amended and upgraded to murder, a first-degree felony. She was also charged with negligently operating a vehicle resulting in serious injury, a third-degree felony; two counts of negligently operating a vehicle resulting in injury, a class A misdemeanor; reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor; driving on a denied license, a class C misdemeanor; and four traffic infractions including passing another vehicle illegally and speeding.

On Oct. 31, she pleaded guilty to reckless driving, driving on a denied license and the four traffic infractions.

A jury trial for the first four charges began on Nov. 3, during which the two misdemeanor charges of negligent operation of a vehicle were upgraded to third-degree felonies.

On the fourth day of the trial, Guzman pleaded guilty to the murder charge and all three charges of negligently operating a vehicle causing injury. As part of pleading guilty, a separate case where she was charged with misdemeanor assault was dismissed. Guzman will be sentenced on Jan. 5.