SEATTLE — A driver who killed two Snohomish teens in a drunk driving crash last year on the West Seattle Bridge was sentenced last week to over 11 years in prison.
In August, Delfino Lopez-Morales, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of Riley Danard and Khalea Thoeuk, both 18.
Under state sentencing deadlines, he faced between 8½ years and 11⅓ years in prison. Lopez-Morales’ public defender asked for the low end of that range, writing in court papers his client is “incredible remorseful for the severe harm he has caused.”
“The impact of his catastrophically poor choices the night in question has been extremely difficult for him to grapple with,” the attorney, Theodore Hastings, wrote.
“Mr. Lopez Morales did a terrible thing and caused drastic harm and pain,” Hastings continued. “But, he is not an irredeemable person, and he has the capacity to do good in the future if given the chance.”
King County prosecutors asked for the high end of the sentencing range on the vehicular homicide charges. They requested another 364 days in jail on a misdemeanor reckless driving charge.
On Nov. 8, King County Superior Court Judge Angela Kaake sentenced Lopez-Morales, of Seattle, to 11⅓ years on the vehicular homicide case to be served concurrently, not consecutively, with the reckless driving allegation.
Just after midnight on March 22, 2023, witnesses called 911 about a wrong-way driver in a pickup on the West Seattle Bridge. The pickup was going east in the westbound lanes with no lights on. A witness estimated the truck was going 70-90 mph, according to charging papers. The speed limit was 45 mph.
A few minutes later, another 911 caller reported the pickup had crashed into a Honda. Investigators found Lopez-Morales was going over 100 mph at the time of the crash.
Numerous witnesses stopped to help the occupants of both cars. One was an off-duty Seattle police officer, who noted both people in the Honda appeared dead, according to court documents. They were identified as Danard and Thoeuk. Danard was driving and Thoeuk was in the passenger seat.
After the crash, Lopez-Morales was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious leg injuries. A blood draw, taken about three hours after the crash, showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.14, well above the 0.08 legal limit, according to the charges. The test also found THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his blood.
The teens were celebrating Danard’s 18th birthday, which was the day before.
An obituary noted Danard loved nature and music.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that Riley was a ‘spark’ that lit up a room, testimony to this is the profound amount of love that those who were fortunate to know him exhibited,” his obituary read.
Both Danard and Thoeuk had attended Snohomish High School.
Numerous friends and family of both victims wrote letters before last week’s sentencing.
“You were the person I let myself love when I didn’t even love myself, always there for me, always ready to love,” wrote Thoeuk’s younger sister, Wynn. “An angel, through and through.”
The defendant had no previous felony convictions.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
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