Convicted of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, 29-year-old Katelyn Fultz will serve less than 300 days in Santa Barbara County jail, followed by five years of probation.
At around 6:50 a.m. on May 1, 2025, Fultz crossed over double yellow lines on Highway 154 and crashed head-on into 24-year-old Carly Howard’s vehicle. Howard died within a few weeks of being in a coma while hospitalized.
Nearly a year later, Fultz’s sentencing in mid-April followed a recommendation from the county Probation Department for seven years of state prison time, while county District Attorney John Savrnoch argued for 10.
“A wonderful young lady lost her life due to the illegal actions of somebody else, … and the consequence for that was a sentence that is less than some sentences given out on misdemeanor cases,” Savrnoch told the Sun. “It is profoundly distressing.
“It dramatically undercuts our ability to state that if you drive under the influence and hurt or kill somebody, you will suffer serious consequences,” he continued.
Savrnoch said that Howard’s family members traveled from as far as Arkansas to attend Fultz’s sentencing hearing in Santa Barbara on April 14.
“Her family are also victims of this crime,” he said. “People who actually knew Carly made statements, and the sentence imposed was imposed based upon a presumption of what Carly would have wanted. Yet the people that knew Carly best were ignored.”
The basis for Judge Brian Aronson’s verdict, Savrnoch believes, was a misinterpretation of Howard’s and her family’s devout Christian values, he explained.
“As far as we can tell, … it was based upon the faith of Carly and her family, but that is not what the family was arguing for. In fact, they were rightfully shocked and very upset by this judgement,” Savrnoch said.
He said that Howard’s sister, Cassandra, asked the court for a 24-year prison sentence, “which wasn’t necessarily a sentencing possibility. … But she talked about 24 years because Carly was 24.”
‘The consequences imposed as a result of the judge’s sentencing choice do not reflect the seriousness of the crime committed.’ —John Savrnoch, Santa Barbara County district attorney
The maximum prison sentence in California for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated is 10 years without prior convictions.
Court documents show that defendant Fultz’s family appealed to Christian principles, especially forgiveness, as part of their testimonies prior to sentencing.
Fultz’s mother, Susan, told Judge Aronson that she prays for Howard’s family every day, “that they may somehow find peace after this horrible tragedy.”
“I pray they will come to understand that Katie [Fultz] is so heartbroken and never meant to inflict so much pain on another human being and all who loved her,” Susan stated. “The grief her family must be going through is unimaginable.”
While defense attorney Joshua Zane Webb argued in court that sending Fultz to state prison amounts to taking “away another young life,” Susan told the judge that the 29-year-old “will be eaten alive in there.”
“All I can do now is pray. … I just pray that the courts, but especially Carly’s family, can forgive Katie,” Susan wrote on March 13.
Prior to Fultz’s sentencing, Judge Aronson reviewed statements from her lawyer that addressed specific circumstances of the fatal collision, including Fultz’s blood alcohol level of 0.167 percent—and the presence of cocaethylene, the compound formed in the liver when someone uses alcohol and cocaine.
“[Fultz] openly admitted to drinking the evening before and to ingesting a small amount of cocaine,” attorney Webb stated in court documents. “Ms. Fultz claimed to have not felt the effects of anything that next morning.”
In her declaration to the court, Fultz said she spent the evening prior to the collision with her boyfriend, Albert Ineira.
“He and I had a few drinks and a couple lines of cocaine, but it was a calm night,” she stated in court documents. “The next morning, we woke up around 6:30 to get dressed and get Albert to work on time. I remember the morning was wet and foggy as I was driving down the 154.”
Attorney Webb expanded upon conditions related to the weather, as well as the road and the truck Fultz was driving that morning.
“All reports and accompanying declarations indicate that the roads were wet and that it was a foggy morning,” Webb stated. “They also indicate that the roads were becoming oiler, due to ongoing construction on San Marcos Pass. … Cars were often sitting idle on various stops on the San Marcos Pass … and leaking oil that wouldn’t ordinarily occur without the ongoing construction.”
It is Fultz’s belief, according to Webb, that she was unable to stay in her lane “due to the road conditions and the condition of her brother’s truck, which she never drove.”
Fultz stated that she borrowed her brother Casey’s 2005 GMC Sierra truck to give her boyfriend a ride. In court documents, Casey said he had meant to take the truck to a shop around that time because it would “shake a bit when I drove it” and needed new windshield wipers.
“It was … difficult to see because Casey’s windshield wipers were not working at all,” Fultz wrote in her declaration. “As I made my way around the turn where the construction waiting line usually starts, I saw there was no line for me to have to stop for and I was clear to keep going.
“That is where I believe I intended to resume some acceleration, but the tires slid immediately,” she said, “and I started going out of control so rapidly that no matter what I tried—brakes, turning the wheel—it was impossible. As fast as this was all happening, I just remember thinking, ‘Please get out of the way, I can’t do anything!’ No matter how very hard I was trying.”
District Attorney Savrnoch told the Sun he believes Fultz’s statements lack any “true contrition.”
“There’s nothing in there that showed a desire to significantly change,” Savrnoch said. “Let’s add to the fact that the defendant in this case didn’t even have a license. … There are a lot of transportation options for people, but none of them can be getting behind the wheel under the influence and without a license. That’s inexcusable behavior.”
According to court records, Fultz was also cited in 2022 and 2023 for driving a vehicle without either a valid license or proof of registration.
The Sun reached out to Fultz’s attorney, who said via email that he would reserve comment until mid-May after Fultz finishes some paperwork.
The terms of Fultz’s probation will be finalized before the end of April. She was remanded into custody on April 14 to serve her county jail sentence of less than a year, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“The consequences imposed as a result of the judge’s sentencing choice do not reflect the seriousness of the crime committed,” Savrnoch told the Sun.
On Fultz’s reported blood alcohol level on the day of the crash, Savrnoch said that the 0.167 figure wasn’t determined until four hours after the collision.
“Impaired driving … is the one violent crime—and I definitely categorize this as a violent crime—that we’re all exposed to. This is not a matter of high-risk behavior being in places that are generally dangerous,” Savrnoch said. “Citizens are exposed to the possibility of being victimized by an impaired driver just by living their lives. We all drive. We all drive on the same highways. … Carly had no say in this matter. Carly was driving on the 154 in her lane when somebody else’s choices and actions took her life.”
Reach Senior Staff Writer Caleb Wiseblood at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in April 30 – May 7, 2026.