John Jefferson
Insets, left to right: Christopher Ray Schmittel (KNSD), Joshua Manzanares and Johnny Punzalan (GoFundMe). Background: The car crash that took Manzanares’ and Punzalan’s lives (YouTube/Sideo.TV).
A young man will spend the next several decades behind bars for an alcohol- and drug-fueled crash on a Southern California beach that killed two of his friends and severely injured two others.
In June, Christopher Ray Schmittel, 21, was convicted by San Diego County jurors on two counts of murder in the second degree, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and one count each of driving under the influence (DUI) of drugs and/or alcohol causing injury, and driving on the wrong side of a highway.
The decision came from a jury of seven men and five women after two-and-a-half days of deliberations. While jurors were given the option of finding Schmittel guilty of only the lesser manslaughter charges, they chose to convict on all counts against him.
On Friday, however, he was sentenced strictly on the murder and DUI causing injury charges. The judge handed down a total sentence of 32 years in prison; 15 years were meted out for each murder count, to run consecutively, or one after another. An two additional years were added on for the nonfatal injuries caused in the crash.
On the night of April 25, 2022, Schmittel was behind the wheel of a 2020 Subaru WRX and flying. Starting on the stretch of undulating east-west California State Route 74 known as the Ortega Highway in Riverside County, the since-condemned man then careened south on U.S. Interstate 5. The car sped on through Orange County, and, finally, into San Diego County. During the wild ride, the compact car attained speeds of nearly 140 mph — all while Schmittel was drunk on alcohol and high on marijuana, Xanax and, eventually, mushrooms.
Just before 11 p.m. that night, the Subaru was doing around 120 mph and plowed through a metal guard rail along Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego. Joshua Manzanares, 19, and Johnny Punzalan, 19, were both ejected from the car. They died at the scene. Schmittel and two other passengers suffered grievous injuries but survived.
During trial, an officer testified that the car plunged some 20 to 25 feet and onto the beach below — before rolling over — and traveled roughly 50 yards from the highway.
Emotions were high during the sentencing hearing, according to a courtroom report by San Diego-based CBS affiliate KFMB.
“You clearly didn’t care to risk the lives of people you considered to be your friends,” one of Manzanares’ sisters said — addressing the defendant. “They trusted you and you failed them.”
A different Manzanares sister addressed her words to her brother and leant them to the notion of an everlasting spirit. She reportedly said: “Your presence is very missed. I know you wanted to see the world. Now you can go anywhere.”
Punzalan had a twin brother. He spoke about the pain of never again waking up to see his brother in the bedroom they shared for 19 years.
“My brother and Josh, they were two amazing people,” Punzalan’s twin said. “Two great people. Words can’t describe that.”
The defense requested the judge to issue punishment based on the manslaughter convictions alone — citing the defendant’s age and lack of a prior criminal record. But the state asked for punishment to be harsh because Schmittel spent hours driving recklessly and intoxicated before the fatal incident brought the dangerous revelry to an end.
During the trial, multiple cellphone videos were shown from the night in question, according to San Diego-based NBC affiliate KNSD. On the videos, the speedometer was present. The car often swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid slowing down. Once Schmittel took one hand off the wheel and waved through the sunroof.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Lisa Rodriguez cited the extreme recklessness of the defendant’s inebriated driving, and the concomitant disregard for human life it evidenced, when ruling in favor of the state and declining the defense’s requests for leniency.
Schmittel, for his part, chimed in to apologize.
“I know my words probably don’t mean much to you guys, but I’m very sorry,” he said. “I know I can’t compare to the loss that you guys suffered, but I do suffer the loss of my friends too. I know I shouldn’t have been doing the things I was doing when it happened and I really do think about that every day.”
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