On September 6, 2024, a 32-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an October 2022 wreck on Interstate 8.
Prosecutors said that the defendant was intoxicated when he rear-ended another vehicle in October 2022 near the intersection of eastbound Interstate 8 and Grossmont Boulevard. The victim, a 53-year-old El Cajon man, was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was later declared dead. The defendant, who was originally charged with murder due to a prior 2018 DUI conviction, is set to be sentenced next month to a stipulated term of 25 years in state prison.
Deputy District Attorney Hailey Williams said the defendant had a BAC level of 0.20 about an hour after the crash, which is more than twice the legal driving limit in California.
La Mesa is one of the oldest inhabited regions of the San Diego area, going back to the Kumeyaay Native Americans in 7,000 B.C.
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