Multiple charges filed in Ceran family deaths

The man accused of killing a mother and two of her children in a drunken-driving accident Christmas Eve was charged Thursday.

Carlos Rodolfo Prieto, 24, was charged in 3rd District Court with three counts of automobile homicide, all third-degree felonies; two counts of driving under the influence and causing serious bodily injury, also third-degree felonies; a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence and causing bodily injury; and one count of not having a driver's license, also a misdemeanor.

The three charges of driving under the influence and causing bodily injury relate to the Ceran family members who survived but were injured. The degree of each charge relates to the severity of injury of each victim.

Prieto is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on a no-bail immigration detainer and on $500,000 bail for the automobile homicide charges.

Salt Lake County Jail records initially reported this was Prieto's third DUI arrest. But Murray police, who investigated the crash, now say they cannot find any previous DUI incidents for Prieto and believe that an encoding error at the jail caused the confusion. Prieto was charged in 2004 with speeding and driving without a license and was ordered to pay a fine.

In this latest encounter, he is accused of running a red light at the intersection of 700 West and 5400 South early Sunday morning, smashing into a car carrying six members of the Ceran family who were returning to their Cedar Hills home following a Christmas party at the Hale Centre Theatre.

Cheryl Ceran and her 15-year-old son, Ian, and 7-year-old daughter, Julianna, were killed. Her husband, Gary Ceran, and two other children, 19-year-old Clarissa and 12-year Caleb, were hospitalized but survived.

Clarissa, the last family member in the hospital who was initially feared to have a serious spinal injury, was released Wednesday afternoon to continue her recovery and physical therapy at home.

Prieto told police he had had five beers before driving, according to court documents. He had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, slurred speech and failed a field sobriety test, court documents state.

Preliminary test results on Prieto's blood showed his blood-alcohol content was over the legal limit of .08, according to court records. He was also driving on an expired license.