Accident Killed 3 : Driver Charged With 2nd-Degree Murder

A Ventura County woman involved in an auto accident that killed three young men and injured two others was charged Friday with three counts of second-degree murder, the Ventura County district attorney’s office said.

Diane Helen Mannes, 34, of Somis also was charged with one count of driving under the influence of alcohol and causing injury.

If Mannes is convicted of all four charges, she could be sentenced to a maximum of 19 years to life in prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory D. Totten said.

Mannes’ arraignment is scheduled for Monday in Ventura Municipal Court. She is being held in lieu of $250,000 bail in Ventura County Jail.

Totten said he will ask the judge to raise bail to $500,000 because Mannes “is a significant danger to the public as well as to herself. We’re concerned she’ll get in the same condition and drive again.”

Mannes was arrested March 31 after the accident on the northbound Ventura Freeway killed 14-year-old Jacob Eugene Boyd and 19-year-old Joshua Daniel Oxenreider, both of Camarillo, and 20-year-old Darin Scott Mullins, of Mansfield, Ohio. Jacob Boyd’s brother, Jeremy Boyd, 19, and Jeff Botens, 16, both of Camarillo, were injured.

Released From Hospital

Botens and Jeremy Boyd were treated and released several days later from Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, a nursing supervisor said.

Mannes’ blood-alcohol content was .20% at the time of her arrest, Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas J. Hutchins said. California law presumes a motorist is drunk when his blood-alcohol level is more than .10%.

The accident occurred near Camarillo as the men were walking on the highway’s shoulder to seek help for a flat tire. They had parked their car and were walking away when Mannes’ car sideswiped their car and flipped over, striking them, said Officer Jim Utter of the California Highway Patrol.

The youths’ car was not obstructing traffic lanes, Utter said. A half-empty bottle of vodka was found in Mannes’ car after the accident, he said.

The night before the accident, Mannes had been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after being stopped by a CHP officer near Tampa Avenue and the Ventura Freeway. At that time, she had a blood-alcohol content of .26%, the CHP said. She was held at Van Nuys jail and released on her own recognizance. Charges are pending, said Don Lawrence, police spokesman.