A Kern County Superior Court Judge, Brian M. McNamara, on Wednesday, June 17th, sentenced the man who caused an accident that killed two people in Bakersfield, California. 24-year-old Daniel Mejia, of Redlands, received a sentence of 15 years to life to plus seven years in prison.
In February, the man was convicted on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and two counts of DUI causing injury. Prosecutor Michelle Domino wanted the court to sentence Mejia to 30 years to life concurrently as he did not appear to feel remorse for his actions.
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A probation report disclosed that the man said he was only hungover at the time of the accident that occurred on November 14th, 2017. The accident report revealed that Mejia, who had .231 BAC, swerved and cut off other motorists as he sped along Highway 99 at 90 mph.
He was unable to control the speed and rear-ended a Chevrolet Silverado truck stopped at the median north of Taft Highway due to a flat tire. 21-year-old Karla Mendoza and her 5-year-old son Axel Rodriguez, who were inside the struck vehicle, sustained fatal wounds. The boy died at the scene, while his mother passed away the next day.
A 3-year-old girl in the truck, Zoey Mendoza, suffered severe wounds including a broken hip. The driver, who is the husband of Karla and father of the minors, Juan Rodriguez Garcia, was uninjured as he was outside the vehicle fixing the tire.
He told the court during the trial that he and his family were having the best times of their lives in the months before the accident, but now, his daughter lives in constant fear that he might die like her mother and brother.
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