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Refvik, 34, was drunk, high, and going 65 mph last Nov. 3 when he drove his Chevrolet Tahoe the wrong way down South Lexington Avenue in White Plains and slammed into a Honda Civic being driven by Edgar Lopez, who was stopped at a light, according to DiFiore.
The collision critically injured Lopez, 49, and killed Reyda La Madrid, a 47-year-old Harrison resident.
According to media reports, he then backed his SUV up and struck a building.
Refvik had pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including aggravated homicide, aggravated manslaughter, vehicular assault, drug possession and drunk driving.
In pleading to the entire 16-count indictment, Refvik is also guilty of numerous vehicle and traffic law violations, DiFiore said.
Refvik’s plea and sentence may give the victims’ families “some measure of closure,” DiFiore said Friday, but it “won’t replace the loss of a wife and mother, and cannot repair the damage done to the victim’s family.”
La Madrid and Lopez, though divorced, still worked together.
According to accounts of the crash, Refvik had been seen on video that fatal day drinking at a number of bars on Mamaroneck Avenue in downtown White Plains.
Experts put the Refvik’s blood alcohol content at the time of the collision at .21, nearly three times the legal limit, DiFiore said. He also had a “cocktail” of cocaine, clonazepam, and bath salts in his system, the district attorney said.
Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lopez of the Superior Court Trial Division prosecuted the case.
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