Drunk Driver Is Sentenced to 4 Years in Woman’s Death

A man was sentenced to four years in state prison Tuesday for killing a mother while he was driving drunk, and a Marine already on probation for driving under the influence was charged with two counts of murder for mowing down two teen-agers in a hit-and-run accident.

Amin Shams Davari, 23, of Poway had a blood alcohol level of 0.16--twice the legal limit--when he smashed into a car driven by Beatrice Yvonne Hunt on Jan. 12.

The 67-year-old mother of four was driving on East Mission Bay Drive when Davari’s speeding vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and struck Hunt’s car head-on.

Davari was on probation at the time of the accident. He was convicted two years before of misdemeanor reckless driving involving alcohol in a plea bargain that dropped a felony charge of driving under the influence.

Three of her children told Superior Court Judge Charles R. Hayes how much they missed Hunt, who ran the Tiny Tots day-care center in her Pacific Beach home.

Calling his mother “my best friend,” Charles Hunt told the judge that Hunt was returning home from a trip to the movies--her first solo trip to a theater since getting a divorce 18 years before--when she was killed.

Davari begged Hunt’s family for forgiveness as he read a statement from a crumpled piece of paper. After saying that he should have been the one to die in the accident, Davari turned toward the family and said, “I’m sorry. If there was anything to do to change the situation I would.”

In another case, prosecutors filed a new charge of second-degree murder against Marine Sgt. Leighton Cullars, 30, accused of killing two people riding a motorcycle.

Genaro Diaz Jr., 19, and Mayra Cendejas, 15, were killed Sept. 5 when a car struck their motorcycle head-on on 30th Street near California 94.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Genaro Ramirez said the new complaint charges Cullars with two counts of murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, two counts of driving while intoxicated resulting in death and one count of hit and run.

Ramirez said Cullars faced a maximum sentence of 12 years, eight months under the original complaint, but now faces mandatory sentences of 15 years to life for each murder count.

A preliminary hearing for Cullars, who is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, is scheduled Oct. 15.