Driver in Deadly 2016 I-5 Wrong-Way Crash Sentenced

The family of a 27-year-old father killed by a wrong-way DUI driver in 2016 was left questioning the legal system Wednesday following the driver’s sentencing.Richard Gideon Hammond was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and sentenced to six years in prison. State Bill Proposes First-Ever Tax on Drinking Water Prosecutors say he was under the influence of marijuana when he drove his 2007 Mazda 3 into oncoming traffic in southbound lanes of I-5 near Dairy Mart Road on the morning of Dec. 3, 2016, and collided with a Yamaha motorcycle.The man on the Yamaha was Daniel Reyes of Chula Vista. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Gas Tax Repeal Initiative Qualifies for November Ballot Reyes’ family spoke out after the sentencing and criticized the length of Hammond’s sentence.”I don’t understand. I don’t understand,” Daniel’s aunt Mara Benitez said. “I mean, how does the system work?” Family of Woman Killed by Falling Tree in PB Settles with City Benitez said Reyes was at her house on the morning of the accident and planned to stay longer into the morning before he suddenly decided to leave.She said she’s not sure how to handle knowing the man who killed him will be out of prison before Daniel’s two sons have their license.”He’s not going to come back, that’s for sure. So it’s not about that,” she said. “It’s about other people. When he gets out, he’s just going to go back and do the same thing.”Benitez said she didn’t attend any other court hearings because she couldn’t handle reliving the weekend she lost Daniel.Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego
Source: NBC San Diego