A former elementary school principal convicted of a deadly DUI crash in the Palmdale area is facing 15 years to life in state prison.
Mary Noel Kruppe, 37, of Pearblossom, was convicted Monday of one count each of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to Deputy District Attorney Thomas Hilton.
The charges stemmed from a head-on crash on Nov. 15, 2018. Kruppe—who was the principal at Enterprise Elementary School in Lancaster at the time—reportedly veered left into oncoming traffic while driving southbound on 50th Street East, north of Avenue P, and her 2014 Jeep Wrangler collided head-on with a 2010 Mazda.
The driver of the Mazda, 29-year-old Jessica Ordaz of Lancaster, was pronounced dead at the scene, and Kruppe was taken to a hospital for treatment of moderate injuries.
She was arrested that night by California Highway Patrol investigators and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.
Kruppe is due back in a Lancaster courtroom on Feb. 20 for sentencing.
