Colby Sharver, a DUI driver who caused a fatal crash that killed two teenagers in Contra Costa County, has been sentenced to a six-year prison term. Sharver, who was 18 and intoxicated, drove his Subaru Impreza into a group of teenagers gathered for a house party in Knightsen, a rural area in east Contra Costa County, on Sept. 4, 2021. The victims, an 18-year-old woman from Pittsburg named Kassandra Sepulveda and a 16-year-old boy from Oakley named Luis Esparza, were killed in the crash.
Sharver pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing bodily injury as part of a plea deal. Having already been in custody for 689 days awaiting trial, he was granted 3.7 years of credit for time served and will receive halftime credit, thus reducing his remaining prison term to 20 months.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office stated that the sentencing was the best course of action to ensure some form of justice for the victims’ families within the constraints of the law. However, friends of the victims have protested the outcome of the case, terming it “absurd” and a “slap on the wrist”.
This case underscores the complexities of DUI law and the sentencing process. It also raises questions about the adequacy of punishments in serious DUI cases, particularly those resulting in fatalities, and highlights the ongoing struggle for justice faced by victims’ families in such tragic circumstances.