Trial begins for man accused in DUI fatal crash in Irvine

A 45-year-old convicted drunk driver flashed through a “solid, stale” red light and crashed into another car, killing a 20- year-old backseat passenger in Irvine, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday as the defendant’s attorney argued his client was “overcharged” and not behind the wheel at the time of the collision.

Antonio Calixto Navarrete is charged with second-degree murder, hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury and driving under the influence of alcohol in excess of the legal limit of .08% causing injury, all felonies.

He is accused of killing 20-year-old Isadora Stabel on Aug. 22, 2020. The crash occurred around 8:45 p.m. at Main Street and Culver Drive in Irvine.

Calixto Navarrete faces an upgraded charge of murder instead of vehicular manslaughter because of a prior conviction for misdemeanor DUI and hit-and-run with property damage from Feb. 20, 2019, in Newport Beach, according to court records. When convicted of DUI, drivers are given what’s known as a Watson advisement — a warning that they could face a murder charge, rather than manslaughter, if they are later involved in a fatal DUI crash.

Calixto Navarrete’s blood-alcohol level was 0.184 about seven or eight hours following the crash, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mallory Miller told jurors in her opening statement of the trial.

As part of the defendant’s plea deal for his DUI May 3, 2018, he had to attend classes on the dangers of drinking and driving as well as meet with a Mother’s Against Drunken Driving panel of victim advocates, Miller said.

Calixto Navarrete “admitted” to police at the crash scene, “I don’t drive with my kids in the car when I’m drinking,” Miller said.

Stabel was in the backseat of a Hyundai Elantra driven by Theodore Guyot, who saw the light switching from green to yellow so he accelerated to make it, Miller said.

“He was trying to get through the intersection because he didn’t think he could stop in time,” Miller said.

Experts are expected to testify to the signal system at the intersection, which is triggered by the amount of traffic waiting for a light to change, Miller said.

Witness Brenda Arandazenil told investigators she was waiting at the intersection in a car for the light to change when she heard the collision and saw her signal turn green, Miller said. She then followed the Ford F-150 pickup truck that fled the scene and alerted police to its location, Miller said.

A few other motorists were also expected to testify how the light changed just after the collision, Miller said.

Another witness, Crystal Bakker, was crossing Main Street as the signal began to change, Miller said. She quickened her pace to finish crossing and then witnessed the crash, according to Miller.

Then, “boom, she saw the impact and then the aftermath,” Miller said.

“The only explanation is [Calixto Navarrete] drove through a red light,” Miller said. “The way the lights are situated, there’s no way Mr. Calixto Navarrete had a green light... The only way he would have had a green light is if he had stopped at the intersection and waited for it to turn.”

Calixto Navarrete “drove through a solid, stale red light and he murdered” Stabel, Miller said.

Defense attorney Nicholas Valk of the Orange County public defender’s office told jurors, “This case has been over-charged” and the prosecutor “over promised” what the evidence would show.

Calixto Navarrete lived in San Clemente and worked all over Orange County for a Santa Ana-based pool cleaner, Valk said.

“He was enjoying a day off from work relaxing at home,” when he joined neighbor Jesus Mendoza in his apartment complex for a drink, Valk said.

Calixto Navarrete had just bought the pickup truck so they got to talking about the vehicle when the defendant asked his neighbor to go with him to Santa Ana to pick up his paycheck and to get some tacos, Valk said.

Mendoza told police he was in the passenger seat slumbering before the crash, Valk said.

Valk contended that Mendoza was driving at the time of the crash and, after, told the defendant to switch seats and drive away because Mendoza was on parole for felony gang-related vandalism and didn’t want to risk violating the terms of his release.

Calixto Navarrette did as he was told and drove away from the scene, Valk said. But officers who responded to the crash, with help from witnesses, followed them to Main and Veneto about a mile away where the two were sitting on a curb, according to police.

Calixto Navarrete was so intoxicated he “doesn’t even realize the air bags went off,” Valk said. He did tell officers that he was behind the wheel for the crash, but he did not remember it at all and only assumed he was the driver because it was his pickup truck, Valk said.

“There are no other witnesses other than Mr. Mendoza, who’s on parole,” who can say who was behind the wheel for the collision, Valk said.

None of the other witnesses identified Calixto Navarrete as the driver in the crash, Valk said.

The Elantra’s driver, Guyot, was under the influence of ketamine and marijuana, Valk said.

The defense attorney said the “evidence is not consistent the light was red” for his client, Valk said.

Valk also said his client was so drunk it is unlikely he could have gotten as far as San Clemente to Irvine without crashing earlier.

The defendant did drive away from the crash scene, but is not guilty of second-degree murder, Valk said.