Nikki Jasso tried to do the right thing the night she drank too much. She decided to stay at a friend’s house instead of driving home.
The next morning, thinking she was sober, the 28-year-old Fresno mother of two got into her 2015 Nissan Altima and headed home.
It would prove to be a tragic mistake.
A short time later, at about 7 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022, she ran a red light at McKinley and Peach avenues, crashing into several cars including a 2010 Scion driven by 68-year-old Suzanne Hood.
Hood, a retired real estate agent, was taken to the hospital where she died.
Jasso was arrested and charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated along with several other felonies. She pleaded no contest to the gross vehicular manslaughter charge in December and was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison.
A tearful Jasso apologized to Hood’s family and friends.
“I want to send my deepest condolences to the family,” she said. “No words can help bring back the pain I have caused.”