Driver, 19, Gets Year in Fatal Crash

Following tearful pleas from the victim’s family for a lengthy prison term, a judge on Monday sentenced a 19-year-old man to spend a year in Ventura County Jail for a 100-mph street racing crash last December that killed a Santa Paula man.

Genaro Mejia was also sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $13,800 in restitution for the death of Jose “Joe” Zermeno, 65, who was driving home from his grandson’s Christmas program at a Ventura church at the time of the crash.

Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Clark said probation was appropriate because the defendant had no previous criminal record and would be unduly affected by the maximum term of six years in the “hellhole” of prison.

“Would Joe ask for vengeance this afternoon?” Clark asked in reference to Zermeno, explaining his ruling to the victim’s sobbing wife and three adult daughters at the sentencing hearing.

Mejia, also of Santa Paula, sat with his head bowed, listening to impassioned pleas from eight of Zermeno’s relatives. When it came time for Mejia to address the court, he broke down and his lawyer read the defendant’s prepared statement.

“I wish to express to the family my deepest condolences for what has occurred,” read attorney John R. Borgess. “I know what I have done is something people will not forget. It was a bad thing.”

In his letter to the court, Mejia stated that he knew the victim because he had served Zermeno coffee and breakfast and chatted briefly with him at his job at McDonald’s in Santa Paula.

Borgess told the court that his client did not engage in gang activity and came from a good family. “He’s not the monster people think he is,” Borgess said.

Mejia’s mother, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, said that her son cried all the time and was deeply depressed after the Dec. 10 crash.

Outside the courtroom, Mejia, who is to report to jail on Aug. 18, said “I’m sorry” before walking away.

Though she acknowledged in court that sentencing rules would dictate a milder punishment, Deputy Dist. Atty. Chrystina Jenson later expressed disappointment.

Street racing “is an escalating problem in our county, and a message needs to be sent to young people here who are out of control,” Jenson said.

In March, a 20-year-old man was sentenced to two years in prison for an Oxnard drag racing crash that killed a 19-year-old mother.

Zermeno, a longtime Santa Paula resident and local school district custodian who was preparing for retirement, was driving home from his grandson’s holiday program when Mejia’s black Chevy Malibu slammed into his red pickup truck on eastbound California 126 near Briggs Road outside Santa Paula.

At the time of the crash, Mejia was drag racing with another driver, who was never charged in the case. The racers had started in Oxnard and sped down California 118 through Saticoy before merging onto the 126. A California Highway Patrol investigation found that race speeds had exceeded 100 mph.

Zermeno’s truck hit a tree and he died at the scene. Mejia sustained minor injuries.

Mejia was charged in May with several crimes, including engaging in an illegal street race. He recently pleaded no contest to felony gross vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges.

Zermeno’s 11-year-old granddaughter, Andrea Marquez, spoke first at the sentencing, telling Clark that her grandfather came to every dance recital, open house and event she participated in, whether it was near or far. She tearfully spoke of Zermeno’s bear hugs, cheerful smile and loving talks over snacks.

“I can’t even imagine celebrating my birthday or my good grades or anything without my grandfather,” she said.

The girl’s mother, Susan Marquez, spoke of the pain of having to drive each day past the spot where Zermeno was killed. She described seeing the twisted frames of her father’s eyeglasses and his blood-covered lunch bag in the wreckage. She called the crash a deliberate and irresponsible act.

“This event awakened a rage inside of me for a man I had never even met,” Marquez said.

Zermeno’s wife, Delfina, spoke of losing her partner and companion of 41 years. She begged Clark to make an example of Mejia.

“We had planned to grow old together, and it’s not going to happen,” said Delfina, a third-grade teacher in Oxnard.

Several of Zermeno’s relatives expressed frustration that Mejia had shown no remorse. At the crash scene, a firefighter, who is also a family friend, became angry and had to be restrained after Mejia complained about a dent in his car bumper and about “the old man driving too slow,” said Santos Marquez, Zermeno’s son-in-law. Several witnesses also reported seeing Mejia laughing at the hospital after the crash.

“We have been given a life sentence because of his senseless actions,” said Susan Marquez.