Murder charges filed in alleged DUI crash that killed married Bakersfield couple
Mar 25, 2025
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- Kern County prosecutors on Tuesday filed charges including two counts of second-degree murder against a woman accused of driving drunk when her car slammed into another vehicle, killing a married couple.
Annabell Aleyna Correa, 21, is also charged with two counts of
gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, four counts related to DUI causing injury, driving without a license and failing to stop at a red light.
Not guilty pleas were entered on her behalf Tuesday afternoon by a representative of the Public Defender's Office.
Correa was allowed to sit during her arraignment after the attorney informed the court she's injured. She wore a medical boot on her right foot and used crutches.
Court Commissioner Samantha Allen set a preliminary hearing for April 4 and ordered she remain in custody without bail, but said the defense could request a bail review.
Before she was arraigned, Correa, who spoke in a quavering voice, said her father had hired an attorney whose name she didn't know. Allen waited 20 minutes then appointed the Public Defender's Office when no one showed up to represent her.
Police were dispatched at 1:37 a.m. on March 16 to the intersection of Coffee Road and Stockdale Highway, where Correa’s white Hyundai collided with a vehicle carrying Max Austin Mooney and Desiree Paula Noelle Mooney, both 30.
Max Mooney was declared dead at the scene, and Desiree Mooney was later pronounced dead at Kern Medical, coroner’s officials said. The couple had gone out for drinks and were taking a rideshare vehicle home.
The driver of the rideshare vehicle and another passenger were also injured, police said.
Correa had a blood-alcohol content of 0.088%, above the legal limit of 0.08%, according to a court filing. She showed symptoms of alcohol intoxication -- including slurred speech and bloodshot eyes -- and told police she drank two 24-ounce cans of Twisted Tea, which contains alcohol, the filing says.
Correa spent several days recovering in a hospital and was booked into jail on Friday. She's being held on more than $2 million bail. ...read more read less