More than seven years after a horrific DUI crash that killed a woman and injured four others, the driver was sentenced in a Joshua Tree courtroom Thursday (May 27). Jennifer Zapata, 29, of Utah, was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison by Judge Rodney Cortez. Zapata was driving drunk on April 13, 2014, when her car crossed the center line west of Arizona Avenue in Joshua Tree and collided head-on with an eastbound car, driven by Christopher Matthews, a Marine stationed at the Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. Killed in the collision was Matthews’ wife, Angela, 25. Christopher Matthews, his 1-year-old daughter, Zapata and her passenger, Evelyn Martinez, were all injured in the crash. Zapata accepted a plea bargain in February in which she pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing bodily injury on a child less than 5 years old. Cortez sentenced Jennifer Zapata to 10 years for the gross vehicular manslaughter charge, eight months for
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Ashley S.P. and Jennifer Zapata spent years working and shopping in streetwear and luxury spaces, feeling like they were on the outside looking in. When they opened their concept shop, Género Neutral, last month in Echo Park nearly a year after they were furloughed from their fashion jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic they wanted to create their own inclusive world. Now, with the support of local brands and a burgeoning Instagram presence, a community of style-obsessed people in L.A. is stepping into that world too.
Zapata, who was a sales and merchandising coordinator at good hyouman, got her notice in March. S.P., who was a brand business manager with Dover Street Market L.A., was laid off in July. They spent weeks commiserating on the beach last summer, trying to come up with a plan for their next move over cans of White Claw. When Zapata suggested they open a brick-and-mortar store, it didn’t seem crazy. It was the moment everything clicked.
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Veteran Leonardo Cantu looks over the ramp just installed at his Sinton home last Tuesday by the Texas Ramp Project out of San Antonio. While he doesnât use a motorized wheelchair just yet, he did say that he may have to in the very near future.