Crime & Safety
Driver Sentenced In Sonoma Co. Crash That Killed Best Friend, 18
"Now two young lives have been destroyed. We are heartbroken."
SANTA ROSA, CA — A Sonoma County Superior Court judge sentenced a Santa Rosa man Monday to 40 months in state prison for causing a collision that killed his best friend last year. Isidro Antonio Moya, 20, pleaded no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI involving marijuana.
The May 4, 2018 collision on Valley Ford Road killed David Etling, 18, of Petaluma, and seriously injured an elderly Kenwood couple traveling in a 2012 Lexus. Moya, the driver of an Infiniti, suffered minor injuries and another teen passenger in the Infiniti was not injured.
Moya told the California Highway Patrol he was driving the Infiniti because Etling did not have a license. He said he, Etling and the other teen were smoking concentrated cannabis at Salmon Creek Beach. Moya told a CHP officer he was drowsy and dozed off right before the collision.
Find out what's happening in Petalumafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Moya's attorney Kevin McConnell said his client faced a maximum of 13 years and eight months in prison. Moya must serve 85 percent, or 36 months, for the serious felonies, McConnell said.
The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office asked Judge Peter Ottenweller to sentence Moya to nine years and eight months in prison, McConnell said.
Find out what's happening in Petalumafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Etling's parents, Ben Bloodworth and Stephen Etling, asked the judge to show leniency and sentence Moya to the least possible time in prison or probation.
"One day in state prison is not going to bring our son back. Isidro will come out of prison a worse person than when he went in," Bloodworth said in a phone interview. "Now two young lives have been destroyed. We are heartbroken."
The tragic collision was the result of poor choices young people sometimes make, Bloodworth said.
Moya also pleaded no contest to possession of concentrated cannabis, driving without a license and crossing a solid double-yellow line.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Charges Filed In Fatal Marijuana-Related West Sonoma Co. Crash
- Sentencing Postponed In Fatal Sonoma County DUI, Marijuana Crash
- Driver Pleads No Contest In Crash That Killed His Best Friend
—Bay City News Service
