A 25-year-old Caruthers man was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in state prison for a fatal DUI crash that killed a woman and injured three others, including her 10-year-old daughter, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said.

Saul Galvez Diaz was sentenced by Fresno County Superior Court Judge Robert Mangano after pleading no contest May 6 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and two counts of felony driving under the influence causing great bodily injury.

The Jan. 4, 2025, crash at Willow and Floral avenues, west of Selma, killed Michelle Lawrence, 28, of Caruthers.

Authorities said Galvez Diaz was driving a Toyota Camry east on Floral Avenue shortly after 8 p.m. with his wife, Sifonia Sanchez Carrasco, 22, of Caruthers, as a passenger.

As Galvez Diaz attempted to turn left onto Willow Avenue, he failed to yield to a Nissan Cube traveling west on Floral Avenue and drove into its path, causing a head-on collision, prosecutors said.

The Nissan was driven by Rebecca Kasper, 61, of Clovis. Lawrence and Lawrence’s 10-year-old daughter were passengers.

Kasper, Lawrence, Lawrence’s daughter, and Carrasco, who was 13 weeks pregnant at the time, were taken to Community Regional Medical Center. Lawrence later died from her injuries.

A California Highway Patrol investigation found Galvez Diaz had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16% about two hours after the crash, twice California’s legal limit, prosecutors said.

Investigators also found that Galvez Diaz had been arrested by Fowler police for DUI six months before the fatal crash after officers stopped him for defective taillights. His blood alcohol concentration in that case was 0.17%, according to the district attorney’s office.

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