Driver Charged with Felony Manslaughter After Crash That Killed Two Passengers

The San Diego Union Tribune reported yesterday that 20-year-old Antony Schoenle has been arrested for gross vehicular manslaughter stemming from an accident Saturday in the Bay Park area that killed Guadalupe Acosta Amado and Lizette Garcia, both from Oceanside. A dog was also killed in the crash. At the arraignment at UCSD Medical Center, Deputy District Attorney Steven Schott said that the defendant drank alcohol, smoked marijuana and consumed cocaine before getting behind the wheel on Saturday. Schoenle was reportedly driving westbound on Friars Road when he went off the road near the Pacific Highway overpass and struck a curb, causing the the Dodge Stratus he was driving to go airborne and down an embankment. The vehicle hit a pillar and became engulfed in flames. Schott said the defendant got out of the car by climbing over Garcia, whom he described in an interview later as “dead weight,” and ran to another vehicle. According to the prosecutor, Schoenle wanted to leave the scene. If convicted of two manslaughter counts and DUI causing great bodily injury, Schoenle faces a possible sentence of up to 12 years in prison.