Loya sentenced to 16 years

Rebecca Loya, the woman convicted of the second-degree murder of two children while drunk-driving on I-10 two years ago, has been sentenced to 16 years in state prison by Judge Michael Burke.

The sentence was handed down a little more than a month after a La Paz County jury found her guilty of the charges. On May 22nd, the verdict was reached in the case after almost 3 weeks of testimony, including from Loya herself, who wept repeatedly and appeared despondent on the witness stand.

A second-degree murder conviction can be reached “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.” The case was prosecuted by La Paz County Attorney Tony Rogers, who was elected in November 2012.