A man whose blood-alcohol level was more than triple the legal limit when he drove the wrong way on the Parkway East earlier this year and killed two women will spend up to six years in state prison.

Pedro Olan Morales, 57, of Charlotte, N.C., pleaded guilty on Tuesday to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, reckless driving and causing an accident while not properly licensed.

Morales, who used a Spanish language interpreter to understand the proceedings, also faces potential immigration consequences for the April 13 crash. He was in the country illegally.

According to investigators, Morales was driving a gray 2010 Chevy Silverado with Ohio license plates when he entered eastbound Interstate 376 traveling the wrong way from Grant Street in Downtown Pittsburgh about 7:30 p.m.

His truck struck a Nissan Frontier traveling westbound, killing the driver, Shannon Morrow, 52, of Mt. Lebanon and her passenger, Sharon Orlofske, 77, of Monroeville.

Deputy District Attorney Emma Schoedel said that Orlofske’s son, Aaron, was driving a car in front of his mother, and evaded Morales before he watched the man crash into the SUV head-on.

Morrow died on the scene, and Orlofske died a short time later.

Morales, who was taken to an area hospital, had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.259%. The legal limit to drive in Pennsylvania is 0.08%.

Schoedel said Morales was driving 41 mph at the time of the crash and didn’t hit the brakes until 1.5 seconds before impact.

Defense attorney Jacob Wyland told the court his client grew up in Veracruz, Mexico, and has been married for 34 years. He has five children and five grandchildren but has spent many years working in the United States in agriculture to send money back to his family.

Morales, Wyland said, is remorseful and pleaded guilty at the case’s first listing.

“He openly wept when I reviewed the discovery material with him,” the attorney said.

Morales spoke briefly through his interpreter.

“I would like to ask forgiveness from the family members for what I’ve done,” he said. “I have asked God for forgiveness.

“I am very, very sorry, and I hope that someday, you can forgive me.”

‘Overwhelming’ grief

Several loved ones of the victims spoke in court on Tuesday.

Morrow’s husband, Douglas Kerley, called his wife his “rock,” and “safe space.”

He misses her morning phone calls checking in and her ability to lift his spirits, he told Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer.

“When I come home now… I get to listen to silence and stare at pictures on the wall,” Kerley said. “Her light was extinguished way too soon.”

Morrow’s mother, Lois Morrow, called Morales’ actions “selfish and stupid.”

“I want him to remember every day he murdered two women,” she said. “I want him to always remember the permanent harm he’s created.”

Morrow’s daughter, Taylor Linke, said when her mom died, a part of her did, too.

“This man has taken everything away from me and my family,” she wrote. “You took everything away from her in a split second.”

Neil Orlofske spoke on his family’s behalf. He told the court that his mother had been a nurse and transplant coordinator who dedicated her life to helping strangers in need.

That evening, she was returning after spending six weeks with her daughter who had just had surgery.

Neil Orlofske described their mother as selfless, compassionate and funny.

“She had a great laugh,” he said.

Because his brother, Aaron, witnessed the crash after avoiding being hit himself, Neil Orlofske said, “the weight of the trauma will remain with him for the rest of his life.”

“The grief,” he continued, “has been overwhelming.”

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