A Yuba Superior Court judge sentenced a man to nine years and eight months in prison for hitting two teens with his truck in Marysville, killing one of them, and driving away.
Justin Taylor Preston, 23, of Marysville on May 12 was sentenced for the hit-and-run crash that killed 13-year-old Jastelyn Hernandez Garcia and severely injured 15-year-old Carlos Rodriguez Camarillo, the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday in a Facebook post.
On Feb. 22, Preston pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter for Jastelyn’s death and hit-and-run resulting in injury for Carlos’s injuries, prosecutors said.
Preston’s conviction also included an enhancement to his charges for fleeing after the vehicular manslaughter. Prosecutors said Preston had no previous criminal history, and he wrote letters of condolences to both families.
The hit-and run involving the teen pedestrians was reported about 7:15 p.m. Jan. 14 along in the 1900 block of B Street near 24th Street. Officers arrived at the scene and found the injured victims.
Prosecutors said Jastelyn was found on the ground unresponsive on the shoulder of the road, and Carlos had been thrown about 20 feet and suffered severe injuries.
The vehicle that struck the teens did not stop and continued heading south on B Street, the Marysville Police Department said. The teens were taken to a hospital.
The girl died from her injuries at a hospital five days after the hit-and-run, police said. The boy suffered injuries to his leg, face and head but survived.
Carlos and Jastelyn had been walking with another friend, from one quinceañera celebration to another just down the road, using their cell phone lights to guide the way on a stormy night, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators found security camera video from a nearby business that showed Carlos was nearest to the road to protect his friends, who were walking along the shoulder and out of the road.
The friend walking with them told authorities that she saw bright lights coming up behind them and looked back just in time to see a vehicle hit her friends, prosecutors said. She heard the tires screech, but the vehicle did not stop. She then called 911 for help.
Investigators at the scene found a front headlight and a side mirror from a dark green vehicle that was later linked to a Ford truck. The investigators also obtained data from nearby license plate readers.
Five days after the hit-and-run — the same day the girl died — police conducted a grid search that led to the location of the suspect vehicle. Prosecutors said the truck was found with a blanket covering the damaged front passenger headlight and was parked at the home of the vehicle’s registered owner, Preston.
Officers arrested Preston in the 6000 block of Viera Lane in Marysville; he was booked at the Yuba County Jail.
Prosecutors said investigators questioned Preston, who admitted knowing he had hit something on the night of the incident, but he claimed that he thought he struck a piece of furniture. He told the investigators he was unable to see clearly that night, claiming his windshield defroster was not working.
The California Highway Patrol later assisted police with a vehicle inspection, and they determined the truck’s defroster was fully functional.
“The loss of Jastelyn’s young life is immeasurable, and Carlos is still living with the trauma of the collision,” prosecutors wrote in the Facebook post. “Rest in peace, Jastelyn.”