Mother charged with DUI in crash that injured her 3-year-old daughter

A woman who allegedly caused a Chula Vista crash that seriously injured her 3-year-old daughter pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that include drunken driving causing injury.

Ayneisha Christiana Frazier, 26, was arrested following a two-car crash that occurred just before midnight Tuesday at the intersection of Brandywine Avenue and East Palomar Street.

Prosecutors allege Frazier had a blood-alcohol level of 0.23 percent shortly after the crash — nearly three times the legal driving limit in California — and that she drove despite having never had a driver’s license.

Deputy District Attorney Mary Loeb alleged Friday that Frazier ran a red light at the intersection and broadsided another vehicle.

Patrol officers arrived to the crash scene to find the toddler unconscious and unresponsive, Chula Vista police Officer James Bucaro said. Paramedics took her to a trauma center, where she was admitted in critical condition.

Loeb said the girl suffered a traumatic brain injury, and the most recent information available from the hospital was that she was not breathing on her own.

Three people in the other vehicle were also injured.

Frazier, who faces up to 13 years and four months in state prison if convicted of all charges, was initially held on $500,000 bail.

A deputy public defender who appeared on Frazier’s behalf said Frazier has no criminal history and requested that she be released on her own recognizance, with release conditions that could include wearing an alcohol-monitoring device.

Superior Court Judge Garry Haehnle granted the prosecution’s request to hold Frazier without bail, though he set a bail review hearing for next week, during which her bail status may be reconsidered.