Emotional family members of Daniel Arias Cortez spoke out Thursday morning during a Santa Barbara County Superior Court sentencing hearing in Lompoc for the driver charged with causing his death, telling the judge it wasn’t an accident.

The mother of Cortez’s two children, Gezel Viveros, 23, previously pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run while driving, resulting in injury or death.  

She was arrested in March after Lompoc police identified her as the driver of a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run incident that killed a man at approximately 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at Beattie Park, 1102 E. Olive Ave.

Cortez, 23, had been struck by a vehicle and was taken to Lompoc Valley Medical Center by a private vehicle before being transferred to Marian Regional Medical Center, where he died from his injuries, police said.

Last month, Viveros entered an open plea directly to Judge Stephen Foley. Unlike a plea deal with the prosecution, an open plea means a defendant did not receive any assurances regarding the sentence and leaves it up to the judge, who typically indicates the likely punishment.

Calling the case “an incredible tragedy,” Judge Foley said he recognized that the court couldn’t end the Cortez family’s grief.

The District Attorney’s Office charged Viveros with felony hit-and-run while driving, causing injury or death, which is legally viewed as an accident, Foley said, adding that no evidence presented suggested that the incident involved an intentional or reckless act.

Morally and legally, Foley said, Viveros should have stopped to assist the victim or sought help for him.

“That is a basic fundamental principle us as human beings in this society go by,” the judge said, “and Ms. Viveros didn’t do that.”

He sentenced Viveros to six months in the county jail and two years of supervised probation. He also ordered her to pay more than $12,000 in restitution for the victim’s funeral costs. 

Before the victim impact statements, videos and pictures were shown on a courtroom screen displaying Cortez’s birth announcement, multiple life milestones, including being a father, and his funeral. 

Family members spoke about their loss and anger at the outcome of the case.

“My heart is shattered. My pain is real,” sister Elizabeth Cortez said. “This was not an accident. She did it out of anger, jealousy.”

His family described Cortez as “an amazing father” of two, a hardworking person, and a loving, caring and responsible man.

“He had a lot of goals he wanted to achieve and many years to live, but he didn’t get to do it,” his sister said. 

Daniel Cortez died as he was mourning the death of his mother a few months earlier.

“We have to live with Daniel not being here with us for the rest of our lives,” she said while crying. “You not only killed him, but you killed me, too. I’m alive, but I feel dead inside.”

Cortez’s father recalled conversations with him before he was struck, and hearing his son’s cellphone fall to the ground. 

“I could hear when she was burning tires,” he said, contending that the woman drove over his son twice before leaving. 

“If it was an accident, she would have stayed to help,” brother Armando Cortez Jr. said.

Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Harmon voiced objections to the open plea, noting that they had not offered a plea deal to the defendant, who was represented by attorney Michael Clayton. 

“This was a tragic case. We recognize the trauma the Cortez family experienced, and we hope that they can now begin their journey towards healing,” Harmon said after the hearing.

Viveros faced a maximum sentence of three years in state prison if convicted on the charge.

Before she was led away in handcuffs, Viveros spoke briefly.

“This has not just been difficult for the Cortez family but me as well,” she said, adding that nothing she could say would ease the family’s pain. “I just want to say I’m sorry, and sorry is not going to bring him back.”