{"id":166941,"date":"2026-02-06T17:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166941\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T17:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T17:29:13","slug":"prosecutors-seek-felony-charge-in-dui-crash-case-madison-williams-misses-court-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/166941\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors seek felony charge in DUI crash case, Madison Williams misses court date"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Prosecutors are pursuing a felony charge against Madison Williams, who failed to appear in court on Thursday for a re-filing hearing. Williams was previously sentenced to seven years’ probation for a 2022 DUI crash in southwest Bakersfield<\/a> that injured three people, including a 21-month-old child.
Williams was convicted in Oct. 2025 of driving under the influence of alcohol, causing injury, driving with 0.08% percent blood alcohol causing injury, and causing a fire of an inhabited structure.<\/p>\n

\"{p}The<\/p>\n

The Kern County District Attorney\u2019s Office said a Kern County jury found Madison Williams guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, driving with 0.08 percent blood alcohol causing injury, and causing a fire of an inhabited structure. PHOTO: Kern County DA<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS REPORTING: Woman sentenced to probation for DUI crash that injured toddler, parents in 2022<\/a><\/p>\n

The crash happened on Sept. 14, 2022, when Williams, driving under the influence, ran a stop sign at the intersection of Old River Road and Taft Highway in southwest Bakersfield and crashed into a home, causing a fire that destroyed the house. The family inside survived, but their 21-,month-old son suffered severe injuries, including a skull fracture and multiple broken bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese last three years were the most difficult years of my life. The court case might have ended today, but my struggles will continue for a long time,\u201d said Princedeep Joshan at the time of Williams’ sentencing.<\/p>\n

Deputy District Attorney William Mord noted at the sentencing that Joshan’s son was unable to speak.<\/p>\n

Williams admitted that her actions were due to substance use at her sentencing, expressing regret and stating she has been sober for over three years.<\/p>\n

\"FILEFILE Madison Williams (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

Despite her remorse, Mord argued the punishment was too lenient, citing a prior DUI arrest three months before the crash. Williams’ blood alcohol content was 0.186%, over twice the legal limit.<\/p>\n

Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n

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Prosecutors initially sought a 16-year prison sentence. The re-filing hearing is now set for Feb. 19, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 Prosecutors are pursuing a felony charge against Madison Williams, who failed to appear in court…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-166941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}