The Princeton man who severely injured a Princeton woman with his car in 2020 was sentenced on Monday to nearly nine years in state prison.
Raymond Zapien, 32, of Princeton, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder for purposely driving his car into Sorrells’ disabled ATV. He was sentenced to a consecutive eight months for fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits while he was incarcerated.
Zapien apologized to the victim, Destiny Sorrells, 24, of Princeton, who was in court with her family on Monday.
The young woman was sitting on her disabled ATV on the shoulder of Highway 45 on May 31, 2020, when Zapien and his girlfriend Sky Flores reportedly got into an argument when both were highly intoxicated.
Flores’ then 15-year-old son, Silas, who was also in Zapien’s vehicle, told the California Highway Patrol after the collision that Zapien purposely veered off the roadway in a possible attempt to kill himself and the occupants of his car.
Zapien reportedly struck Sorrells’ ATV so hard that she was knocked from her shoes, her helmet was broken, and her neck was fractured in multiple places, according to her father John, who read a victim’s impact report on behalf of Destiny and his family.
John Sorrells said he could not explain the rage and anger he felt when he was called to the scene of the collision and found his severely injured daughter lying in the dirt and unable to move or feel her legs.
Sorrells said Destiny, who was airlifted to Enloe Medical Center, told him that she had made eye contact with Zapien just before she was struck and that she saw pure “evil.”
While Destiny eventually recovered without suffering permanent paralysis, after months of physical therapy, doctors have told her she would likely suffer lifetime pain, eventual arthritis, and other complications from the senseless act.
According to District Attorney Matthew Beauchamp, who prosecuted the case, Zapien had just been released from jail when he and Flores, with Silas in the backseat, had gone out for a drive after the couple had been drinking Fireballs, which Flores had supplied.
After the argument and the collision with the ATV, Zapien tried to drive away from the scene but was blocked by another vehicle, driven by Kyle Wills, who pulled in front of the Buick to prevent Zapien’s escape. After crashing into Wills’ pickup, Zapien fled his disabled vehicle on foot, leaving Flores and her injured son at the scene.
John Sorrells said despite Silas Flores’ injuries, he went back to the ATV to check on Destiny.
Sorrells said Zapien is very lucky he did not kill himself and the others that day, but the nightmare is something his daughter will live with the rest of her life.
“She will never forget him no matter how hard she tries,” Sorrells said.
Flores, who supplied the liquor for the couple’s afternoon drive, eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation for conspiracy to commit a crime and child endangerment after she and Zapien’s sister, following the collision, rendezvoused with him and spirited him away to Yuba City to try and escape authorities.
Zapien was captured nearly a month later and remained in jail on $1 million bail. He was remanded back to jail on Monday for transfer to state prison.
Colusa County Judge Jeffrey A Thompson said Zapien was not entitled to the minimum sentence because of his lengthy criminal history. Zapien was previously charged as a co-defendant in the attempted murder of a Maxwell couple in 2007. He later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of being an accessory to the shooting, and was sentenced to two years in state prison, court records indicate. Zapien has also been convicted of burglary, possession of a controlled substance, grand theft, and violating the terms of Post Release Community Supervision, all on separate occasions.
Zapien was emotional at the sentencing, and spoke directly to the Sorrells family, taking responsibility for the collision, and apologizing for his behavior. However, Zapien denied the collision was deliberate and said he was not paying attention when he veered off the roadway and that he did not purposely drive into Destiny or the ATV.
“I really am sorry,” Zapien said.
Flores was also in court on Monday.
The judge has set Dec. 6 for her to enter a plea and set a preliminary hearing on charges she aided Zapien in illegally collecting some $53,000 in unemployment benefits.
The judge denied a request by Flores’ attorney for her to have one final visit with Zapien in jail before he is bound over to the California Department of Correction.
As co-defendants in the fraud case, Thompson ordered Flores and Zapien to have no communication with each other, either in person or electronically. ■