A Camp Pendleton-based Marine who drove drunk and caused the death of a 12-year-old boy in a July 4 car crash in Oceanside was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years and eight months in state prison .
Edward Minot, 21, was arrested last summer for the crash that killed Santiago Gaspar and injured two others in the vehicle, including the victim’s 6-year-old brother.
Minot, who was 20 at the time, was initially charged with murder. He pleaded guilty last month to drunken manslaughter and drunken driving.
According to Oceanside Police, the crash happened around 11 p.m. after an Oceanside police officer was alerted to a Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback near Mission Avenue and Myers Street traveling without its headlights on.
“The officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop northbound on Myers Street, just south of Pier View Way,” said Sgt. » said Clint Bussey. “The driver failed to yield and immediately drove north on Myers Street at a high rate of speed.”
About 30 seconds later, the suspect’s vehicle struck a Nissan Altima traveling east on Surfrider Way, according to the sergeant, who said alcohol and speed were considered factors in the collision.
California Daily Newspapers
