A person who drunkenly drove right into a tree at greater than 100 mph, killing 5 passengers driving with him, may spend the remainder of his life in jail after he’s sentenced subsequent month.
On Thursday, a jury convicted Cameron Garcia, 28, of 5 counts of vehicular manslaughter whereas intoxicated and carjacking in reference to the lethal crash and police pursuit Feb. 9, 2023.
In response to Sacramento County prosecutors, Garcia had spent the day ingesting close to the Sacramento River, then obtained behind the wheel with a automotive full of individuals.
He was dashing down River Street, a two-lane freeway that bends with the Sacramento River, when he went off an embankment simply south of the Freeport Bridge, the district legal professional’s workplace stated in a information launch.
Garcia hit a tree at 101 miles per hour. Prosecutors say Garcia truly hit the accelerator earlier than ramming into the tree, as a substitute of the brakes. The automotive flipped 180 levels, virtually utterly tearing off the automobile’s roof and proper aspect.
All 5 passengers had been ejected from the automotive and had been pronounced lifeless on the scene. Garcia survived with a number of accidents.
As folks began to reach on the scene, Garcia tried to steal a number of vehicles, managing to take a lady’s automotive after pushing her out of the motive force’s seat. He sped off with the automotive to Elk Grove, the place he was chased by police and helicopters. Garcia crashed the automobile into one other automotive after which tried to steal one other.
Garcia then ran away on foot right into a neighborhood, the place authorities had been lastly capable of seize him. He was taken to the hospital, the place examiners discovered he had a blood alcohol focus of 0.11% an hour and a half after the collision. He additionally had marijuana in his system.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 19 and faces as much as 181 years to life in jail resulting from earlier convictions and aggravating components within the case.
