Christopher Ray Schmittel, 21, was found guilty of causing the deaths of Joshua Manzanares and Johnny Punzalan, both 19
A young man convicted of murder for driving under the influence and crashing his car onto Torrey Pines State Beach, killing two of his passengers and seriously injuring two others, was sentenced Friday to 32 years to life in state prison.
Prosecutors say the car reached speeds of more than 120 mph just before the crash and Schmittel, who was 19 years old at the time, was driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Williams said the impact to the victims’ families “have had long-lasting and far-reaching consequences that I’m sure none of us can even begin to fully understand.”
“Your presence is very missed. I know you wanted to see the world. Now you can go anywhere,” she said.“I miss him so much that words can not ever come close to explain or describe the pain that I feel,” she said. “I always get very upset thinking of how my son lost his life when this could have been avoided.”
Schmittel apologized in court, telling the families, “I know my words probably don’t mean much to you guys, but I’m very sorry. I know I can’t compare to the loss that you guys suffered, but I do suffer the loss of my friends, too. I know I shouldn’t have been doing the things I was doing when it happened and I really do think about that every day.”
The judge said Schmittel “disregarded the well-being — not just of his passengers and himself — but every single person on the road that day” and that it was “only through sheer luck that no one was injured earlier.”
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