A former deputy of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s office has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading no contest to charges related to a fatal crash in Torrance. The incident resulted in the death of his passenger and severe injuries to two other individuals. Daniel Manuel Auner, 25, was immediately taken into custody after the sentencing.
Auner entered a plea of no contest on May 31 to charges of voluntary manslaughter, gross vehicular manslaughter, and assault with a deadly weapon. The charges stemmed from a crash that occurred on July 8, 2020, where Auner was driving at extremely high speeds when his vehicle struck the center median and a traffic pole.
The crash resulted in the death of Ashley Wells, 23, and caused significant injuries to two other young women in the vehicle. The victims’ families spoke at the sentencing, expressing their grief and describing the impact of the incident on their lives. Auner resigned from the sheriff’s department just over a week after his plea.
During a hearing in December 2021, evidence was presented indicating Auner’s reckless behavior, including excessive speed and a blood-alcohol content just below the legal limit. The judge noted that as a law enforcement officer, Auner should have been aware of the dangers of drinking and speeding. Testimony also revealed that Auner had disengaged the safety systems of his vehicle.
The sentencing of Auner is seen as a tragedy for both the victims’ families and Auner’s own family, according to one of his attorneys. The hope is that the plea deal and prison sentence will provide some closure to all parties involved.
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