Man sentenced in fatal Shafter crash

Edwin Sanchez, who was involved in a fiery crash in Shafter in August 2023, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter in connection with a deadly crash last year in Shafter and has been sentenced to probation and community service.

On the afternoon of Aug. 14, Sanchez drove a Ford Excursion west on West Lerdo Highway approaching Driver Road, according to a court filing. The Ford collided with an Infiniti Q50 in the intersection. Both vehicles caught fire.

The Infiniti's driver, Luis Andree Gallegos Prieto, 21, was pinned in the car and died at the scene, the filing says.

Police found a gray backpack near the crash scene containing Sanchez's cellphone, an empty 50-milliliter bottle of whiskey, two full whiskey bottles, an empty Modelo beer can and two medication bottles, according to the filing.

Even though alcohol was found at the scene and upon testing there was a detectable amount of alcohol in Sanchez's system, it was below .08, which is the legal limit in California.

Before pleading no contest to the lesser charge, Sanchez was facing a charge of felony vehicular manslaughter, which could have meant a lengthy prison sentence.