Woman sentenced for fatal DUI crash on Highway 41 in Fresno that killed friend in 2020
A 24-year-old Fresno woman who was arrested in 2020 for a drunk driving crash that killed her passenger was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison.
Catherina Monson showed little emotion when Judge Gabriel Brickey issued her sentence. Monson agreed to a plead no contest to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter in exchange for a six-year prison term.
Killed in the crash was 21-year-old Tamika Davis, Monson’s friend.
Fresno police said the crash happened on Oct. 4, 2020, on Highway 41 shortly after 6 p.m. Monson was driving a Buick LeSabre, and was headed north on 41 at speeds approaching 100 mph.
An investigation found that Monson missed the exit for Highway 180 and tried to correct her mistake, losing control of the car and crashing into the center divider on Highway 41. The car overturned and landed in the northbound lane.
Davis died at the scene and Monson was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The CHP said it did not appear that either woman was wearing a seat belt.
Prosecutor Steven Ueltzen said that at the time of the crash Monson tried to leave the scene by asking people for a ride.
Monson’s attorney Eric Schweitzer said the sentence was a fair resolution to a tragic case.
“I have known Catherina since she was a child and it is very sad to be standing next to her at this juncture,” Schweitzer said. “I think you can see from the probation report that she has not had an easy life.”
Schweitzer would not get into specifics, but said Monson is the victim of childhood trauma. He said she was also was very contrite in a letter she wrote to the judge.
Monson chose not to make a public statement, and neither did Davis’s mother, Flora Moya. The mother told Ueltzen prior to the hearing that she wanted the judge to know her daughter left behind two children and that they deeply miss their mother.
