Woman gets 20 years for hitting, killing California man with SUV while he lit fireworks

A 38-year-old woman has been sentenced to 20 years in state prison for swerving in her SUV and killing a man in Wilmington as he lit fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July, court documents show.

Rachel Beatrice Fiorentino Gutierrez pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence with gross negligence, and hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury in May, court records show.

She was arrested in October, three months after police said she intentionally swerved her SUV while driving along Fries Avenue, near G Street, killing 36-year-old Juan Jose Areyan as he lit fireworks in the center-divider area on July 3, 2023.

Los Angeles police detective Ryan Moreno said Areyan was not blocking traffic.

“There’s no reason for this woman to be driving the way she was in this area,” Moreno said at an October press conference announcing Gutierrez’s arrest.

Areyan was thrown 121 feet, police said. Detectives used surveillance-camera video to map Gutierrez’s path before and after the crash.

Until recently, the court website did not show her sentence, and District Attorney’s Office representatives did not return messages until this week.

The SUV was found abandoned at a Food 4 Less grocery store in Torrance weeks after the collision, police said. Detectives found surveillance video showing a woman walking away from the SUV and vehicle registration records came back to Gutierrez.

Before her arrest, police said, Gutierrez was involved in another crash in Rancho Palos Verdes when she ran a red light and hit multiple parked vehicles.

Areyan was remembered by family members as a hard-working husband and father who loved to joke with his sisters and showered love and affection on everyone he was around.

Before his death, Areyan and other residents in the neighborhood had tried to ask the city if something could be done about drivers speeding in the neighborhood, which is a mix of homes, a supermarket and small businesses where a lot of people are outside. One idea they asked about was speed bumps, but they were denied because the city’s DASH bus ran a route in the area.

Gutierrez grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, police said, and began having problems with the law after she started using drugs.