A Navy man pleaded guilty to his role in the death of a Valley Center couple, struck by a car while out on their daily walk.
Earl Smith, Jr., 21, of Oceanside was underage when he was arrested in the July 7 crash. On Wednesday, he entered a guilty plea of gross vehicular manslaughter.
Smith was behind the wheel of the vehicle that struck Carl and Eunice Ackermann while they were on a morning walk along Old Castle Road near Mauka Drive.
California Highway Patrol officials said Smith was driving a Toyota Corolla at an unknown speed when he drifted off the roadway and slammed into the couple. Prosecutors say he was looking at the GPS on a phone just before the crash.
An hour and a half after the incident, Smith’s BAC was at .12, which prosecutors described as “well over the legal limit.”
Smith’s friends told NBC 7 he was serving as a Seaman E3 and living on a local base at the time of the crash. He once played corner for Fallbrook Union High School’s football team friends said.
When Smith is sentenced on Dec. 18, he faces up to 11 years in state prison.
