A 25-year-old Caruthers man was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in state prison for a 2025 DUI head-on crash that killed a 28-year-old passenger and injured three others, including a 10-year-old girl.
Saul Galvez Diaz was sentenced for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of felony driving under the influence causing great bodily injury.
Fresno County Superior Court Judge Robert Mangano imposed the sentence after Galvez Diaz entered a no-contest plea on May 6th.
The crash happened on January 4, 2025, at the intersection of Willow and Floral Avenues, west of Selma.
Michelle Lawrence, 28, of Caruthers, was a passenger in the other vehicle and died from her injuries.
Lawrence’s 10-year-old daughter and her 61-year-old mother were injured, along with Diaz’s wife, who was 13 weeks pregnant at the time.
Investigators said Diaz was driving a Toyota Camry eastbound on Floral Avenue with his wife, Sifonia Sanchez Carrasco, 22, of Caruthers, in the passenger seat.
They said he turned left onto Willow Avenue into the path of an oncoming Nissan Cube traveling westbound on Floral Avenue.
The 61-year-old woman driving the Nissan couldn’t avoid the Toyota, and the two vehicles crashed head-on.
All three people in the Nissan were taken to CRMC. Lawrence was not wearing a seat belt and did not survive.
The California Highway Patrol investigation found Diaz’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.16% about two hours after the crash, which is twice California’s legal limit.
Investigators also said he had been arrested about six months earlier by the Fowler Police Department for driving under the influence. His blood alcohol concentration in that case was 0.17%, authorities said.
“The pain caused by impaired driving extends far beyond the crash itself,” Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp said. “A young mother lost her life, a child lost her mother, and multiple families will carry the consequences of this defendant’s choices forever. This case serves as a tragic reminder that every decision to drive under the influence puts innocent lives at risk.”