Drunk Driver Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Causing Fatal Crash
A drunk driver from Van Nuys was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison after he tearfully apologized in court to relatives of a North Hollywood woman whose death he caused in an accident last March.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Judith Meisels Ashmann sentenced Roger James Gunnip, 28, for vehicular manslaughter in the death of Thelma Darlene Davis, 28.
Prosecutors agreed to seek no more than a six-year sentence in exchange for Gunnip’s guilty plea July 5.
Gunnip was traveling an estimated 70 m.p.h. eastbound on Vanowen Street and ran a red light, hitting Davis’ vehicle, which was northbound on Whitsett Avenue, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lisa Kahn.
Davis died instantly of head and internal injuries, Kahn said.
In handing down the sentence, Meisels cited Gunnip’s lack of a prior record and his remorse. Gunnip apologized to about two dozen of Davis’ friends and family members present for the sentencing.
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