HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — A 29-year-old woman drank "an unfathomable amount" of alcohol during a night of bar-hopping before rear-ending another car in Huntington Beach, killing three Las Vegas teens on spring break and injuring a fourth youth, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

Bani Marcela Duarte's attorney countered that she "made a stupid decision that cost three people their lives," but said prosecutors would fail to prove the San Clemente resident is guilty of three counts of second-degree murder. Duarte is also charged with driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, with a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury, stemming from the March 29, 2018, crash that killed the other driver, 17-year-old Brooke Hawley, and passengers 18-year-old Dylan Mack and 17- year-old Albert Rossi.

A fourth high school classmate, Alexis Vargas, managed to get out of the burning Toyota Camry, but sustained second-degree burns to one arm. Duarte had gone out drinking in several bars and clubs throughout Orange County, ending up at Baja Sharkeez in Newport Beach early that morning, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Feldman.

"There she consumed an unfathomable amount of alcohol," he said, telling jurors that a post-crash blood test showed her blood-alcohol level was .28%, well above the legal limit of .08.

Duarte was heading north, but was so drunk she thought she was driving south toward home when she left the restaurant, Feldman said. Three men in a Jeep spotted her erratic driving and called 911, he said. While making a left-hand turn onto Pacific Coast Highway "she swung so wide she struck the curb with the passenger side of her car," Feldman said.

Duarte got out of the Hyundai she was driving to "inspect the damage," and then got back into the car and kept driving, he said.

"She ignored that warning about her ability to drive," Feldman said.

The three witnesses said she appeared to be "beyond intoxicated," and that she was "burping, staggering," he said. They were still on the line with a 911 dispatcher when the Hyundai slammed into the Camry as the car idled at a red light at Magnolia Street about 1 a.m., Feldman said.

"They see her speed up to catch the light" before the collision, he said.

Duarte's car was going 79 mph in a 45 mph zone when it slammed into the rear of the Camry, which "burst into flames," Feldman said.

"She ignored what she knew about the dangers of drinking and driving," Feldman said. "She rolled the dice and gambled on the lives of these young people, and three of them died." Duarte was arrested in San Clemente by an Orange County sheriff's deputy on June 22, 2016, on suspicion of DUI. A breathalyzer test indicated her blood-alcohol level was .17 % on that occasion, according to court records.