Mission Viejo Driver Turns Self in on Murder Charges

He's behind bars in New York, but when he'll be returned to Orange County is uncertain.

After driving the wrong way in an accident that killed another driver and critically injured himself last May, William Joseph Carroll, 47, has turned himself in on second-degree murder charges in Albany, NY, sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

Carroll was charged with murder instead of manslaughter because he has a prior drunken driving conviction from 2008, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said. Defendants are advised in DUI cases that they could be charged with murder if involved in a deadly collision involving drugs or alcohol.

Carroll was suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol when his pickup headed south on the north side of Santa Margarita Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita, colliding head-on with a minivan. He lived in Mission Viejo at the time.

Ana Martinez, 36, who was driving the minivan, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the mother of three children.

Carroll was not immediately booked due to his injuries, a sheriff's spokesman told the Orange County Register. He said toxicology reports took longer than expected.

According to the paper, Carroll left a suicidal message on a former girlfriend's phone earlier that night saying he was drunk and "going to die tonight."

Orange County Superior Court records show that Carroll pled guilty to drunk driving in 2008 and was arrested for public intoxication, trespassing and resisting arrest in 2011.

City News Service contributed to this report.