A former elementary school principal who was drunk when she veered into oncoming traffic in the Palmdale area, killing another driver, has been sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison.
Mary Noel Kruppe, 37, of Pearblossom, was convicted Feb. 3 of one count each of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Kruppe—the principal at Enterprise Elementary School in Lancaster at the time of the Nov. 15, 2018, crash—swerved 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.
Kruppe’s blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.19 percent—more than twice the legal limit—two hours after the crash, according to Deputy District Attorney Thomas Hilton.
She was arrested that night by California Highway Patrol investigators and has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.
