Supporters of Pomona woman killed in DUI crash cry foul over driver's plea bargain

Pictured: Leyna Marie Basua

FONTANA -- Friends and family members of a woman killed in a drunk driving collision are upset that prosecutors have agreed to a plea bargain with the driver that carries a a year in jail.

Ashley Conner Young, 23, will be sentenced Monday for gross vehicular manslaughter if a judge in Fontana Superior Court accepts her plea agreement with prosecutors.

But supporters of the woman killed in crash, Leyna Marie Basua of Pomona, say they intend to protest the sentence outside the courthouse and urge Judge Steven A. Mapes to reject the agreement.

Four months before the crash that killed Basua, Young was arrested for drunken driving in Beverly Hills. Her driver's license was suspended at the time of the crash.

"They told me this is all they can do because they don't have enough evidence," said Mary Santibanez, Basua's mother. "She ran into my daughter. How much more evidence do you need?"

At about 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 11, 2009, Basua's Honda Civic was struck from behind as she drove south on the 15 Freeway near Cherry Avenue by a car that authorities believe was driven by Young.

The collision pushed Basua's car across five lanes and off the shoulder of the freeway. The car crashed though a chain-link fence and into a tree, according to a police report contained in Young's court file.

Basua, 26, suffered a fractured pelvis, cuts to both legs and abdominal pain. Her passenger, boyfriend John Martin, broke his arm, and a gash to his face required stitches to close.

When California Highway Patrol officers arrived at the scene, Young was standing beside her car near the median of the freeway.

She smelled of alcohol and admitted she had been drinking, but she denied she was driving the car that collided with Basua's car, according to the police report.

Young, who provided police with home addresses in Newport Beach and Palm Desert, said her friend, Sara Elizabeth Cox, was driving the car and fled the scene.

Young told police that after the crash, a car filled with Cox's friends that had been following them from Las Vegas stopped to pick up Cox and continued on the freeway.

She then directed officers to Cox's driver's license, which was in the center console of Young's 2006 Audi.

When police interviewed Cox, she told officers that she and Young traveled to Las Vegas together for a trip and were staying together at the Rio.

The evening before the collision, they got into an argument and Young, who had been drinking, left in her car, Cox told police.

Cox told police that she drove Young's car to Las Vegas, and she didn't have a chance before Young left to retrieve her driver's license from the center console.

Officers then contacted an employee at the Rio, who verified there was a room booked under Cox's name.

The employee said Cox did not check out until Oct. 12, about 36 hours after the collision that ultimately killed Basua, according to the police report.

Despite the severity of Basua's injuries, which included extensive damage to her organs, she survived for nine months.

She was wheelchair-bound, and she couldn't bathe or use the restroom without assistance, said her mother, Santibanez.

During her time battling injuries, Basua was told by a doctor that her wounds would prevent her from being able to give birth.

"When they told her that, she just crumbled," said her friend Michelle Baumgartner.

Basua had multiple surgeries to try to repair the damage to her organs, but ultimately an internal infection spread and her organs began to fail, Santibanez said.

"The doctors told me that her body is withdrawing," Santibanez said.

As Basua's injuries worsened, she was hospitalized at Victor Valley Community Hospital. Her mother recalled the last time Basua spoke before she died.

"I go into her room. 'Mom, don't get mad. I'm tired.' And I told her, 'It's time for you to go,'" Santibanez said.

Santibanez said her daughter fell asleep in her arms, and didn't wake or speak before dying about three days later on July 1, 2010.

Martin, Basua's boyfriend of more than two years, gave Basua a ring before her death, and the couple talked about marriage. Before Basua was buried, Martin put the ring in her coffin, Baumgartner said.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges against Young on Jan. 25, 2010.

She remained free on $100,000 bail until July 25, after she was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter. Her bail was later raised to $250,000.

On Dec. 7, she pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors that carries a year in jail.

Basua's supporters say they want Young to serve a prison term of at least four years, which is the low term on the sentencing scale for gross vehicular manslaughter.

"Honestly, I want her in prison," Santibanez said. "Number one, she killed by daughter. Number two, she lied to officers."

Santibanez said she wants Young's case to go to trial. She's confident that Young will be convicted, though she knows an acquittal is possible.

"If I'm gonna lose at trial, at least I know I tried," she said.

Young's attorney, Miles Clark III, did not return calls seeking comment today.

The supervising deputy district attorney at the Fontana branch of the District Attorney's Office declined today to discuss the evidence in Young's case or the reasoning behind her plea bargain.

"That's inappropriate when (sentencing) is pending," Richard Young said.

Richard Young did describe the so-called "Watson theory" of murder, under which a drunken driver with a history of DUI can be convicted of murder for a fatal collision.

Perhaps the most well-known example of such a prosecution is the case of driver who killed Angles pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others in 2009.

The driver, Andrew Gallo, had a previous conviction for DUI. He was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder and sentenced last month to 51 years to life in prison.

"I can tell you that as a general rule, the Watson theory of murder requires us to show reckless indifference. ... Oftentimes that is shown by prior convictions," Richard Young said.

In addition to a conviction, prosecutors are aided in such cases when a driver has attended DUI classes as a result of their conviction, Richard Young said.

"It allows us to prosecute for second-degree murder," he said. "Absent the ability to show that, we wouldn't be able to prosecute under the Watson theory."

Ashley Young was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on June 7, 2009 in Beverly Hills.

She was charged with DUI two months later, but she didn't come to court on her arraignment date and she was never convicted.

At Young's original sentencing hearing last month for Basua's death, Santibanez said she spoke in court and complained to Judge Mapes about what she feels is a lenient sentence.

She also mentioned Young's prior arrest for drunken driving. After she spoke in court, Mapes said he wasn't comfortable sentencing Young and he rescheduled sentencing for Monday, according to Santibanez.