BREAKING NEWS:

A 6-year-old Costa Mesa boy died on the Corona del Mar (73) Freeway late Tuesday when his mother was allegedly driving drunk and plowed the car into a metal guard rail.

The driver, Julie Ann Smith, also of Costa Mesa, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving. She was being released from the hospital and booked into Orange County Jail on Wednesday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jennifer Hink.

Witnesses saw Smith driving her 1992 Lexus sedan at an estimated speed of 90 mph as she headed northbound at 9:15 p.m. on the freeway in Newport Beach, Hink said.

When the traffic slowed in front of her, witnesses said the driver of the Lexus began driving on the shoulder. She lost control of the car and hit the guardrail, just south of Jamboree Road.

Smith’s son was sitting in the front passenger seat and was ejected from the car.

He died at the scene.

It’s unclear whether the boy was wearing a seat belt. Based on photos from the accident scene, Hink said the car was “possibly cut in half” and investigators Wednesday were still reviewing the wreckage, which has since been removed from the freeway.

Smith, 46, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where she was expected to be released Wednesday into the custody of police, who would be taking her to Orange County Jail, Hink said.