Driver to Plead No Contest in Crash That Killed Family

A Rialto construction worker has pleaded no contest to manslaughter and drunk driving charges stemming from a crash in Compton last month that killed a family of six.

James Lee Lyles, 53, was charged with six counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of driving under the influence. Lyles entered a not guilty plea in the Aug. 22 crash. But he announced Tuesday that he would plead no contest to all charges before a preliminary hearing was to begin in Compton Municipal Court. Lyles faces up to 15 years in prison and is to be sentenced Nov. 8.

“Obviously, he changed his plea because he felt responsible,” said Halvor T. Miller, Lyles’ attorney.

Investigators say Lyles’ pickup truck was headed north on Atlantic Avenue going about 80 mph that night. He sideswiped a passing vehicle, then careened into a car parked at the curb. In the car were Carlos Granados Gallardo, 27, his wife and their four children. They were out to dinner at a taco stand celebrating on the eve of Granados’ first paycheck after months of unemployment. They were killed on impact.

California Highway Patrol investigators said Lyles had a 0.06 blood-alcohol level and tested positive for cocaine.

“I think he should get the high term,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Schorr.

The day after the accident, Granados was to receive his first paycheck from JC Penney in Carson, where he had worked as a sales associate in the men’s department for three weeks. The family had been scraping by since he was laid off from his job at a trucking company eight months earlier. His wife, Magdalena Lopez, 25, had been working six days a week at a Paramount fast food restaurant to support him and their children, Carlos Jr., 8, Adriana, 4, Jesus, 3, and Jose, 1.

Hundreds of mourners packed a Lynwood church eight days after the crash, the same day Lyles was scheduled to have a bail hearing. Lyles withdrew his request for the hearing when he learned that it coincided with the funeral.

“He couldn’t appear in court out of respect for them,” Miller said.