BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — A man accused of killing a 6-year-old girl in a DUI crash on East Panama Lane is set to be tried exactly one year after the incident, according to Kern County court records.
Cesar Magana-Mendoza re-entered a not guilty plea to murder and DUI-related charges on Tuesday July 14, records show. He had initially pleaded not guilty last year after the incident.
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The family of six-year-old Azmeret Mayall, who was killed in a suspected DUI crash on E. Panama Lane, released a statement and is calling for tougher DUI laws. PHOTO: Law Office of Chain | Cohn | Clark
Magana-Mendoza faces charges of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI of alcohol causing injury, and DUI of alcohol .08 or more causing injury. He was held to answer on those charges in late June.
Authorities allege Magana-Mendoza was speeding when he rear-ended another vehicle on September 28, 2025, on East Panama Lane. Police said the crash involved a black sedan and a white SUV that were driving westbound when the sedan allegedly rear-ended the SUV at high speeds.
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FILE: The suspected DUI driver, Cesar Magana, pleaded not guilty to a crash that killed a 6-year-old girl and injured others. PHOTO: KBAK/KBFX
Officers arrived after 7:30 a.m. and found the crash site in the 2600 block of East Panama Lane.
Police said the SUV was carrying a mother, an infant and 6-year-old Azmeret Mayall. The driver of the SUV, a woman, and the infant passenger suffered minor to moderate injuries, police said. Mayall suffered major injuries. All three were taken to a nearby hospital.
Magana-Mendoza allegedly showed signs of impairment and was arrested, police said.
A 6-year-old child died a day after a suspected DUI crash in southeast Bakersfield Sunday morning. The suspected DUI driver, 20-year-old Cesar Magana, was arrested. PHOTO: RD on the Scene
Mayall was transported to Orange County Children’s Hospital for further treatment but died the next day.
Magana-Mendoza is set to return to court on September 18 for a readiness hearing. A pending trial is set for September 28, 2026, exactly one year after the crash on East Panama Lane.