A repeat DUI offender was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in state prison for second-degree murder in a head-on crash near Table Mountain Casino that killed a 78-year-old Fresno man, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said.

Ryan Mathew Wayne Trevino, 38, of Fresno, was sentenced by Fresno County Superior Court Judge Ryan Wells in the death of John Michael Tarter, 78, of Fresno.

Trevino pleaded to second-degree murder Aug. 4.

He was also sentenced in a separate case for driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs stemming from an Oct. 1, 2023, offense, prosecutors said.

The fatal crash occurred about 2:20 p.m. Jan. 13, 2024, as Trevino drove a Chevrolet Silverado west on Millerton Road near Table Mountain Casino at a high rate of speed, according to the district attorney’s office.

As Trevino approached a curve, the Silverado crossed into oncoming lanes and onto the opposite shoulder, directly into the path of Tarter’s Toyota Tundra, prosecutors said.

The vehicles collided head-on, and Tarter was pronounced dead shortly afterward.

Trevino Denied Being Under the Influence

California Highway Patrol officers contacted Trevino following the crash. Trevino denied consuming alcohol or other impairing substances, but officers found alcohol containers inside his Silverado and observed strong signs of impairment, prosecutors said.

Toxicology testing showed Trevino had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.243% nearly two hours after the crash. Testing also detected tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana.

An investigation by the CHP’s Investigative Services Unit and Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team found Trevino was traveling about 72 mph as he entered the area of impact around the curve, according to prosecutors.

Investigators also recovered evidence from Trevino’s cellphone showing he had been in the Shaver Lake area earlier that day, where he purchased alcoholic beverages from a bar and liquor store.

Minutes before the fatal collision, Trevino recorded himself driving on a rainy Highway 168 at speeds ranging from 75 to 95 mph while bragging about how “good he can drive in bad weather,” prosecutors said.

Trevino had previously been convicted of DUI offenses in 2006 and 2018 and had been warned by courts about the dangers of impaired driving, according to the district attorney’s office.

At the time of the fatal collision, Trevino was also facing charges in the separate Oct. 1, 2023, DUI case.

Four days before the crash that killed Tarter, Trevino appeared in court in connection with that case and was ordered not to use or possess alcohol or visit establishments where alcohol was the primary item sold, prosecutors said.

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