SAN DIEGO -- A woman who was drunk when her truck veered off a road north of El Cajon, fatally injuring a mother of three, was convicted Wednesday of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Deborah Felix, 53, who was also convicted of misdemeanor hit-and-run, faces a maximum 15 years in state prison when she is sentenced May 11 by El Cajon Judge Lantz Lewis.

Jurors found true a sentence-enhancing allegation that the defendant fled the scene after committing the crime.

Prosecution witnesses testified that Felix said several times that she needed to urinate before walking away after the Nov. 21, 2009, crash that killed 35-year-old Cydil Deann Kohlmeyer.

Deputy District Attorney Heather Trocha said the defendant's truck hit the pedestrian, plowed through a couple of mailboxes, struck another pickup and slammed into a garage, leaving a trail of debris over several front yards along Pepper Drive in unincorporated El Cajon.

David Goan, whose pickup truck was knocked 60 feet into a neighbor's van, testified that the defendant remained in the cab of her truck for several moments looking for her purse before she was coaxed out. She then walked off, he said.

"She actually started pulling down her pants, saying she had to go to the bathroom," Goan said.

He said he grabbed her by the arm to keep her close, but she ran off down a nearby street when he let go.

Felix was face-down in a ditch by some bushes when he found her several minutes later, according to Goan. He said she smelled of alcohol and slurred her speech.

Defense attorney Karen Hirr told jurors her client couldn't find a private place to urinate close to the accident scene, which attracted a large crowd.

Witnesses differed on how intoxicated Felix appeared to be, but the lawyer only challenged the hit-and-run charge in her comments to the jury.

According to Trocha, the defendant's blood-alcohol level was .27 percent -- more than three times the legal limit -- when tested 90 minutes later.

The witnesses testified that no one was aware that Kohlmeyer had been struck until later, when she was spotted by an ambulance crew. She was pronounced dead at a hospital two hours later.

Felix pleaded guilty before the trial to a misdemeanor DUI charge stemming from a separate incident, Trocha said.