By admin 
A judge on Friday sentenced a man to 20 years to life in prison for the 2025 drunk driving death of a 19-year-old California State Parks worker near Oroville.
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Butte Superior Court Judge Virginia Gingery sentenced Fernando Martinez Lynch, 39, for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and causing injury while driving under the influence, according to a news release from the Butte County District Attorney’s office. The crash, near Loafer Creek State Park, resulted in the death of 19-year-old Zohie Lonsberry and the serious injury of her brother, 23-year-old David Anthony Lonsberry.
Before the sentencing, the judge heard impact statements from the Lonsberry family.
“(Lynch) never learned his lesson, and he never should have been driving,” said David Lonsberry, who was injured in the crash. “He has destroyed the happiness in our family,” he told the judge, according to the District Attorney’s release.
Around 7:15 p.m. on July 30, 2025, Lynch drove his Dodge Ram truck into the opposite lane of traffic on Highway 162 outside Oroville, crossing a double yellow line and striking the driver’s side of Zohie Lonsberry’s Toyota Corolla. The collision killed her, tore the roof off the Corolla and caused Lynch’s truck to flip over, the release said.
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When officers drew Lynch’s blood around 11:25 p.m. that evening, they found he had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, according to the District Attorney’s office.
The office’s release said analysis from the California Highway Patrol showed Lynch had been traveling 70 to 90 mph in the seconds before the collision. He hit a guardrail on the right side of the road before veering into Lonsberry’s car.
“Lynch had four prior DUI convictions in Santa Barbara and Alameda Counties in 2005, 2009, 2021, and 2023,” the release said. “At the time of the collision, Lynch was on active DUI probation and, as part of that probation, had recently completed a court-ordered DUI educational course emphasizing the dangers of drinking and driving.”
“He knew what he was doing. He made that decision and knew what could happen, yet he still did it,” said Cassie Lonsberry, mother of Zohie and David Lonsberry, in the impact statement, according to the DA’s news release.
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