Pauline Rangel's family waited more than two years for this day. But even after Camargo was sent away for a life sentence, they were still left with a bad taste in their mouths and tears in their eyes.
Camargo walked out of a Fresno County courtroom on his way to serving a life sentence for murder. After two previous DUI convictions, Camargo ran a stop sign at Peach and Manning, and crashed into Rangel's vehicle at 76 miles per hour. Camargo's blood alcohol content was 0.14 when he killed the mother of three in August 2009. Her family knows they'll never see her smiling face again, and even a life sentence for her killer isn't satisfying.
"Bringing her back would satisfy us, but it's not going to happen," said Marty Rangel, the victim's sister. "His family has the right to pick up a phone and talk to him. We can't call heaven. We can't. She's gone. Forever."
The family had to wait an extra two months for justice because of a dispute over Camargo's true age, after a jury convicted him of murder. His attorney says she found out Camargo was four years younger than she believed. She says that meant he was a juvenile when he received his first DUI, so she asked for a new trial.
"I just wanted to present the truth and argue that he was of this age and this situation and it wasn't that he wasn't responsible for this woman's death because he clearly was," said Jane Boulger of the Fresno County public defender's office.
Whatever his true age, Camargo picked up a second DUI as an adult. On his third, he killed Rangel. After the judge sentenced him, Camargo's family left the courtroom in tears. Rangel's family cried as well, but their sadness is mixed with anger.
"It's about accountability," said Marty Rangel. "If a 5-year-old knows and has common sense not to do the wrong thing one, two, three times, he should've known better."
Camargo will be eligible for parole after serving 15 years of his life sentence. So depending on which birthdate is true, he'll either be 35 or 39 years old.
