Drunk Driver Who Killed Family of 6 Gets 9 Years in Prison

A Rialto construction worker who had pleaded no contest to killing a Compton family of six while driving drunk in August was sentenced Wednesday to nine years behind bars.

James Lee Lyles, 53, had faced up to 23 years in prison for the deaths of Carlos Granados Gallardo, 27, his wife, Magdalena Lopez, 25, and their four children.

Compton Superior Court Judge Gary Hahn said Lyles deserved a degree of leniency because he had admitted to his crimes and expressed remorse for the Aug. 22 crash, during which investigators said he was driving at 80 mph on Atlantic Avenue when his pickup truck slammed into the Granados’ parked car.

Relatives of the Granados family bemoaned the ruling outside the courtroom, screaming and saying Lyles deserved a longer sentence for wiping out an entire family.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Schorr, who had asked for a penalty of at least 18 years, agreed that the sentence was light. But rather than criticize the judge, he faulted the state Legislature’s sentencing guidelines.

“I think that the law is too lenient in this case,” Schorr said.

Family sources say Carlos Granados had taken his family to dinner that summer night to celebrate his new job, a sales position that ended several months of unemployment. He and the children had gone to pick up Magdalena at her full-time job at a Paramount restaurant and then dropped by their favorite taco stand.

They had just piled back into their car, investigators said, when Lyles’ truck sideswiped another car and careened into the Granados’ sedan, killing the family instantly.

Lyles originally pleaded not guilty to six counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and one count of driving under the influence and causing injury. Lyles changed his plea in September.

Hahn rejected Lyles attorney’s request for probation, saying the defendant was driving recklessly under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.

A civil case against Lyles has been filed by relatives of the Granados family. It has not advanced beyond preliminary stages.