Contra Costa County DUI driver sentenced after killing 2 teens

(KRON) — Friends of two teenagers who were killed by a DUI driver said they are dismayed after the driver received a “slap on the wrist” in court.

Colby Sharver was 18 years old and drunk when he plowed his Subaru Impreza into a group of teenagers who had gathered for a house party, investigators said. The double fatal DUI crash happened in Knightsen in rural east Contra Costa County on Sept. 4, 2021.

An 18-year-old Pittsburg woman, Kassandra Sepulveda, and a 16-year-old Oakley boy, Luis Esparza, were killed.

As part of a plea deal, Sharver pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and DUI causing bodily injury. A spokesman for the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office told KRON4, “The families of the victims were notified of the terms of the plea.”

Sharver was sentenced to a six-year prison term, according to the DA’s Office. He was in custody for 689 days awaiting trial, and he was granted 3.7 years of credit for time served. Sharver will also receive halftime credit.

The DA’s spokesman said, “The remaining time in prison term will be 20 months (or 1.65 years). This includes his halftime credits. Given some of the legal challenges in this case – including a new law that requires the court to impose a prison term of 4 years unless there are other circumstances — this was the best possible course to ensure the families of the victims received some from of justice within the parameters of the law.”

California’s new law took effect in 2022 and directs courts to impose lesser sentences for youthful offenders.

Friends of Sepulveda organized a social media campaign, justiceforkass, and described the case’s outcome as “absurd.”

“It is with immense sadness that we share this update on the case’s progress. Colby was sentenced to six years in prison today for the horrific killing of two teenagers. We were also told that he was given credit for time served in county (jail) and that there were additional reasons for his sentence being reduced. This doesn’t seem real,” the campaign wrote on Instagram Wednesday.