DUI driver gets up to 40 years in prison after crash in which pregnant woman’s baby died

Rebekah Dauz said Sept. 6, 2025, changed her family’s life forever.

She and her family were driving home from an obstetrician appointment that day when an impaired Maximiliano Chavez sped through a red light and slammed into their vehicle. Dauz, who was 29 weeks pregnant, and her 9-year-old son were seriously injured and the baby she had just seen on an ultrasound later died.

Fighting tears, Dauz recounted the crash during Chavez’s sentencing Thursday, when District Judge Tara Newberry ordered him to serve 16 to 40 years in prison.

Chavez, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving under the influence resulting in substantial bodily harm and one count of reckless driving in February. He was originally charged with a total of seven felonies — three counts of DUI and four of reckless driving.

At least two of the charges were for the death of the baby, “Baby Boy Dauz.” Those were dropped as part of his plea agreement, according to his attorney, Robert Draskovich.

Prosecutors said that without the deal, he faced 39 to 93 years in prison, given his prior DUI offenses.

The crash, which happened at West Blue Diamond Road and Las Vegas Boulevard South, inflicted severe abdominal injuries on Dauz, which caused her unborn child’s heartbeat to stop, prosecutors previously said.

She had an emergency cesarean section and the baby’s heartbeat briefly returned, but after about 20 minutes he was pronounced dead — despite a doctor’s effort to save him, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson had previously said.

‘Deliberate and purposeful choices’

Deputy District Attorney Corey Hallquist said that what Chavez did was not a mistake, but repeated behavior, considering his previous DUI arrests in 2017 and 2021.

“These little decisions that the defendant made over and over again are not mistakes,” said Hallquist. “They were deliberate and purposeful choices that the defendant made, and they accumulated with Rebekah going to the hospital, losing her child and a 9-year-old in the ICU for multiple days.”

Hallquist showed a video of the crash, in which bystanders helped lift an unconscious Isaiah out of the vehicle moments after the impact.

The video showed that the vehicle’s windshield was completely shattered and that the front airbags deployed.

Hallquist said the boy was “close to death’s door,” suffering a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones.

The prosecutor also noted that a case of beer and a bottle of mouthwash were found in Chavez’s vehicle after the crash.

“Every time he gets behind the wheel, there is no consideration for the other individuals in the community driving,” Hallquist said. “It’s about him and what he wants to do.”

Chavez apologized to the Dauz family, who filled two rows on one side of the courtroom’s gallery, and told Newberry that it “breaks my heart what I did to them.”

“I know I am going to go away, but I promise when I get out, I will be a better person,” Chavez said.

Draskovich said that the quick resolution of the case showed Chavez’s desire to put the victim’s family at rest. Draskovich said that Chavez had sought rehabilitation on his own since his September release from custody.

More than a dozen of Chavez’s relatives also attended the sentencing.

“Allow him to return to his family and still have years and energy and not be a product of a substantial prison sentence,” Draskovich told Newberry.

The defense attorney did not request a specific penalty but urged the judge not to impose the maximum sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison on Chavez.

‘Reminder of that day and my loss’

Rebekah Dauz said that she has wounds from the crash that will never fully heal.

“Physically and emotionally, every scar on my body is a reminder of that day and my loss,” she said. The mother said that she still has flashbacks and nightmares of her baby’s ultrasound.

Her husband, Chester Dauz, asked Newberry to impose the maximum sentence.

Isaiah, who also gave a victim impact statement, said he did not originally remember the crash when he woke up from a coma afterward.

“I am still healing and recovering slowly, but I believe I will continue to be better with time,” the 9-year-old said. “I also want Mr. Chavez to know that I forgive him and I will be praying for him.”