14-year-old guilty in deadly Woodland joyride ordered to juvenile detention until age 19
A 14-year-old boy convicted last month of manslaughter in a Woodland crash that killed two people and injured several others has been ordered to remain in detention until age 19, a Yolo Superior Court judge ruled Friday.
The teen — 13 at the time of the April 2023 crash that killed 43-year-old Tina Vital and her 4-year-old granddaughter, Adalina Lilah Perez — will serve the time at a juvenile detention facility, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office said Friday in a news release. The boy’s identity has not been publicly disclosed because he is a minor.
Prosecutors have said the teen stole his family’s SUV, took it for a joyride and led law enforcement on a chase before crashing into a car carrying Vital and Adalina.
The SUV also hit a second vehicle. Eleven people were injured between the three vehicles, including the underage driver and the two occupants who died, authorities said. The force of the collision left the vehicles stacked atop one another.
The boy was convicted last month of numerous charges including two counts of vehicular manslaughter and several of evading a peace officer.
Judge Paul Richardson, at the conclusion of a two-day hearing Friday, ruled that the boy should be detained until he is 19, prosecutors said in the news release; he had faced a maximum sentence of detention until his 21th birthday.
The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution for all 10 victims, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Restitution for four of the victims was set at $11,195.82 during this week’s hearing. The amount for the six additional victims has not yet been determined.
A judge last month sustained all charges except two counts of murder against the defendant, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. California juvenile trials do not go before a jury; a judge determines whether young defendants did what they’re accused of.
The Bee’s Rosalio Ahumada contributed to this story.
