A man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for his role in a wrong-way crash that happened in the summer of 2017.
Fox10 in Phoenix reports that Carlos Quinonez, 21, of Casa Grande, was found guilty by Coconino Superior Court on the charges of negligent homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol, endangerment, and criminal damage.
The accident happened on Interstate 17 on August 18th, 2017, at approximately 4:00 a.m. when Quinonez was driving his SUV and collided with a Nissan near Munds Park in Flagstaff that was heading to the Grand Canyon.
The head-on collision left all four people inside the Nissan dead at the scene. The victims include Christen Elbert, 26, and Richard Chum, 30, from Stockton, California, and Gary Sindhu, 29, if Lodi, California, and Kouang Saefong, 30 of San Francisco, California.
All four crash victims graduated from Tokay High School in Lodi, California, and were on their way to the Grand Canyon for a shared adventure.
Court records indicate that Quinonez was initially charged with four counts of manslaughter, four counts of endangerment, one count of criminal damage and two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Immediately following the conviction in September, Quinonez’s attorney filed for a retrial.
