Man gets 8 to 20 years in prison for wrong-way DUI that killed two
A 52-year-old man was sentenced to between eight and 20 years in prison for a wrong-way DUI crash that killed two people earlier this year.
In February, Gustavo Martinez-Garcia, of North Las Vegas, drove his truck over the median from the westbound lanes of Summerlin Parkway into an eastbound lane, crashing into a Toyota Corolla and killing the 20-year-old driver Savanna Gonzales, and 31-year-old Frank Anthony Spenia III.
Martinez-Garcia also was injured in the crash but has recovered.
He pleaded guilty in June to one count of DUI resulting in death.
Prosecutor Steve Waters said Martinez-Garcia’s blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent when his truck crashed into Gonzales’ car.
“This was no accident,” Waters said. “This was a deadly situation waiting to happen.”
In a courtroom packed with family and friends of the victims and defendant, District Judge Douglas Herndon also ordered Martinez-Garcia to pay a $5,000 fine and use an alcohol-monitoring device on his vehicle for three years after he is released from prison.
Spenia’s younger sister, Sara Elizabeth Spenia, said that since her brother’s death, “tears have become a part of my daily life.”
His father, Frank Spenia II, told the judge he suffers from pain that “still hurts as much now as it did back in February. At this point, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to get better.”
All the relatives, including Gonzales’s mother, Annabel Gonzales, pleaded for the maximum sentence, which Herndon handed down.
“My heart is broken in half,” Gonzales said, “and there will forever be a hole in my soul.”
Martinez-Garcia, who had twice been convicted of DUI, apologized to the victims’ families.
“I accept responsibility,” he said. “I feel the pain of the families and friends of people that died.”
Gonzales’s Corolla was so badly damaged after the wreck, Waters said it “barely looks like a car anymore.”
Spenia and Gonzales had met while helping others with substance abuse recovery problems, friends said.
They were on their way to meet Gonzales’ mother in the middle of the afternoon when Martinez-Garcia’s truck crossed the 40-foot rocky median.
As he delivered the sentence, Herndon scolded Martinez-Garcia. The judge had heard at least five other felony DUI cases Thursday, he said.
“This is the kind of stuff that makes an entire community wait for their kids to come home,” Herndon said. “It makes them want their kids to text them anytime they go anywhere, so we’ll know they got their safely, when you should just be able to trust that people are all going to go out, and they’re going to do the damn things that they’re supposed to do. And be respectful of other people.”
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker
