MyNewsLA.com photo by Alexander Nguyen
An elementary school principal charged with driving drunk and killing a woman in a head-on crash in Palmdale was ordered Tuesday to remain jailed in lieu of $2 million bail while awaiting arraignment next month.
Mary Noel Kruppe, 35, of Pearblossom, is set to be arraigned Dec. 19 at the Lancaster courthouse on a murder charge stemming from the death of 29-year-old Lancaster resident Jessica Ordaz last Thursday.
Kruppe was behind the wheel of a 2014 Jeep Wrangler that was traveling southbound on 50th Street East, north of Avenue P, when it veered left into oncoming traffic about 6:50 p.m. and collided head-on with a 2010 Mazda driven by Ordaz, authorities said.
Ordaz was pronounced dead at the scene, and Kruppe, a principal at Enterprise Elementary School in Lancaster, was taken to a hospital for treatment of moderate injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol.
If convicted as charged, Kruppe could face up to 15 years to life in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
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