Novato woman arrested in fatal crash near Petaluma

A Novato woman was arrested in a crash that killed a relative and injured another person last week on Highway 101 near the southern edge of Petaluma, investigators said.

Kenia Marcela Alegria, 41, was arrested Tuesday after being released from Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. She was being treated for major injuries she suffered the night of Feb. 11 after crashing a BMW near Petaluma Boulevard South, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The victim was Teresa Renderos, 61, of Novato, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday. Authorities did not specify her relation to Alegria.

Alegria is suspected of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. CHP Officer David deRutte said the agency is recommending a murder charge because she had a previous DUI arrest in Marin County in January 2022.

In that incident, Alegria was charged with misdemeanor DUI and faced a special allegation her blood-alcohol content was at least 0.15 percent. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

She pleaded guilty in March 2023 and was placed on probation for three years. A judge ordered her not to drive with any amount of alcohol in her system during her probation period, court records show.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office will decide whether to file charges in the crash last week. None were listed in court records as of Wednesday morning.

Alegria is being held at the Sonoma County jail without bail and is expected to make her first court appearance Thursday, Feb. 19, before Judge Lynette Brown.

According to the CHP, Alegria was driving at a high speed on a wet road when she crashed about 8:45 p.m. Feb. 11. Her two passengers were thrown from the vehicle after it went off the road and overturned. Police do not think the passengers were wearing seatbelts.

Renderos was pronounced dead at the crash site. The other passenger, a 60-year-old woman, was taken to a hospital with Alegria.