A 23-year-old man who was driving under the influence when his vehicle struck and killed two other men was convicted of vehicular manslaughter on Wednesday, the Los Angles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Dylan Shane Rutherford, a Simi Valley resident, pleaded no contest to a charge of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He is being sentenced to 10 years in state prison, Deputy District Attorney Matthew Vodnoy said in a news release.
The deadly crash happened on Oct. 7, 2016. That day, Rutherford was driving under the influence of alcohol, prosecutors said, when he ran a red light in the intersection of De Soto Avenue and Chatsworth Street.
His vehicle struck a truck, which then rolled over and slammed into a street light, prosecutors said. The two men inside the truck were thrown out of it upon impact and were killed.
Just weeks after the crash, the DA’s office initially said Rutherford would be facing two felony counts each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and could receive a possible maximum sentence of 19 years prison. Although it appears those charges were lessened.
The DA’s office identified the victims as Hector Castro, 44, and Ernesto Castro, 42.