A 19-year-old Tucson man who killed a friend in a rollover crash on the Catalina Highway two years ago is facing between five and 40 years in prison after being convicted Monday of negligent homicide and several other charges in Pima County Superior Court.
Joseph Daniel Garcia will be sentenced July 6 by Pima County Superior Court Judge Edgar Acuña.
On Aug. 10, 2008, Garcia and his girlfriend, Jessica Parra, left their 5-month-old twin daughters with Parra's mother and went to two end-of-summer parties.
Garcia, Parra and three friends were driving back from Windy Point around 4 a.m. when Garcia moved into the opposing lane of traffic to pass a slower-moving vehicle on a curve.
He lost control, flipped the Honda Civic his grandparents had bought for him and killed Shane Harvey, 17.
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Garcia admitted he'd been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana earlier in the day. An accident reconstructionist estimated Garcia was traveling at 68 miles per hour when he passed the other vehicle.
Prosecutors Jennifer Dent and Bruce Chalk argued Garcia was guilty of second-degree murder, but Assistant Pima County Public Defender Kyle Ipson insisted the incident was a tragic accident caused by an inexperienced, immature teenager.
In addition to the less-serious charge of negligent homicide, Garcia was also convicted of three aggravated-assault counts, and one count each of endangerment and driving under the influence. He was acquitted on another aggravated-assault charge.
Garcia told jurors Friday that his was the last of several vehicles to leave the party at Windy Point, and he sped up so he could stay with the crowd.
When the girl driving the car in front of him kept weaving in her lane and hitting her brakes, Harvey and two other boys urged him to pass her, Garcia said.
As he was passing the car "my girlfriend said 'Slow down' and that's the last thing I can recall," Garcia said.
He said he woke up in a daze and helped Parra get out of the front passenger side, which had been crushed. He then looked in the back seat and immediately realized Harvey was dead and another friend was seriously injured.
The crash has changed his life, Garcia said.
"It made me realize how precious life is and I shouldn't be doing things like that no more," Garcia said. "I feel horrible in every way, unexplainably horrible. I don't know how to explain it."
Garcia also testified he thought he was OK to drive. Tests showed his blood-alcohol level was slightly below the DUI level of 0.08 for someone over 21.
When asked if he was responsible for killing Harvey and injuring his friends, Garcia replied, "I am."
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com. Follow the news and events at Pima County's courthouses in Kim Smith's blog, At the Courthouse, at go.azstarnet.com/courthouse
