San Diego

A drunk driver who killed a month-old infant in a Southeast San Diego crash was sentenced Thursday to four years in state prison.

Thomas Sauls, 50, of San Diego was also fined $100 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles Hayes. Sauls had pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Sauls’ pickup truck slammed into a car driven by the infant’s mother, who had stopped for a red light at 47th Street and Oceanview Boulevard Sept. 7, according to a probation report.

Vanessa Mata, 29 days old, was ejected from her mother’s car and died of massive head injuries. The probation report said the infant was in a child seat but not properly restrained.

Sauls’ blood alcohol level was 0.13%, the report said. A half-empty pint of gin was found in his truck. The defendant had not had a driver’s license since 1984.

The child’s mother, Teresa Samudia, suffered a broken nose. One passenger had a broken arm and another suffered head injuries.