A San Jose woman has pleaded no contest to two felonies after she drunkenly drove the wrong way on Highway 17 and plowed straight into a car carrying a group of teens last May, killing a Fremont boy.
Ashley Marie Oliver, 29, entered the plea Tuesday for a felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old Armando Canales, and felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, relating to two teen girls who were seriously injured.
Oliver’s plea did not involve any charging or sentencing agreement with the court or prosecutors. She faces up to 12 years, eight months in prison at her scheduled sentencing March 23.
“The defendant’s behavior that night was extremely reckless and caused the death of Armando and serious injuries to these children, who may never fully recover from the injuries they suffered,” Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Heather Melton said. She added that Oliver “taking full responsibility without any agreement or reduction from the court was the first step toward doing right thing.”
Oliver is currently in custody at the Elmwood women’s jail, where she is being held on $450,000 bail.
For Tina Cacilhas, there is no sentence that could temper the pain that she and her family suffered from the sudden loss of her son the day before Mother’s Day.
“For me and my family, it’s a lifetime sentence. We don’t get parole,” Cacilhas said. “Once she serves her time, she gets to have a life again. For us, we don’t get out.”
In a statement released to this news organization by her attorney Stephanie Rickard, Oliver said she takes “full responsibility” for Armando’s death and that she hopes others can take lessons from her experience.
“My heart goes out to his family and friends, and to the three other teenagers who were injured as a result of my irresponsible actions,” Oliver said. “Not a day goes by when I wish that I had not had that one more drink, that I had not stayed out late that night, that I had gotten more sleep the night before, and that I had the good sense not to take the wheel and not to drive the wrong way on that fateful highway.”
“I hope that my case will serve as a deterrent to others, especially young working women like me. Don’t have that additional drink,” she added. “Don’t party like there’s no tomorrow. Because for Armando, there is no tomorrow. And I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
According to the California Highway Patrol, the fatal collision occurred just after 2 a.m. on May 11, 2019 when Oliver drove north in her gray Chrysler minivan on southbound Highway 17 for 2 to 3 miles before hitting head-on a Toyota carrying Armando and his friends, who were headed to Santa Cruz.
Armando was pronounced dead at the scene. The other teenagers in the car, three girls and a boy, were also injured. Two of the girls were seriously injured, with one suffering a blood clot that threatened her brain and another suffering potentially scarring cuts to her face.
Responding CHP officers reported that they found Oliver still in the driver seat, “incoherent and disoriented,” with dilated pupils, slurred speech, sensitivity to light and “a strong odor of alcohol.” Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that “Oliver admitted to taking a total of eight shots of hard alcohol — whiskey and rum — before getting behind the wheel to drive that night.”
The officers also reported that Oliver failed basic sobriety tests and that her breath-analysis readings on scene showed blood-alcohol levels of .103 and .102, above the .08 legal limit. A blood sample drawn about two hours later reportedly registered a .09 blood-alcohol level.
Armando was described by family and friends as a “social butterfly” who played football at Washington High and was a student in the fire technology program at Mission Valley Regional Occupational Program. They said he was protective of his friends and those who needed help, and wanted to become a fireman.
Cacilhas said she hopes Oliver receives the maximum sentence allowed.
“She affected a lot of people’s lives,” Cacilhas said. “I pray and hope to God justice is served for Armando.”
