Drunk Driver Who Killed 2 in Collision Gets 10-Year Term

A convicted drunk driver who killed a man and his infant daughter in a head-on collision last year was sentenced Thursday to nearly 11 years in prison.

Sammy Menchaca, 27, of Simi Valley had been charged with murder, but was convicted in July by a Ventura County Superior Court jury of manslaughter and drunk driving after jurors became deadlocked on the more serious charge, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Paventi said.

Judge Robert Soares sentenced Menchaca to 10 years and eight months in state prison and fined him $10,000.

Killed in the Aug. 23, 1986, collision were Patrick Mestayer of Ventura and his 3-year-old daughter, Sarah.

Mestayer’s wife, Sally, 28, and their 16-month-old daughter were injured when Menchaca crossed the median strip at about 70 m.p.h. and slammed into the family’s truck.

Menchaca, who had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19, almost double the 0.10 legal limit, had been on an all-day ocean fishing trip off Oxnard and was returning home when the accident occurred, Paventi said.

Prosecutors filed second-degree murder charges against the man because he had two drunk-driving convictions, had caused a drunk-driving accident and had attended driving school three times by court order.