(SDOT camera image from shortly after crash)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
That was the scene on the West Seattle Bridge on the early morning of March 22, 2023, when Delfino Lopez-Morales, now 37, killed two 18-year-olds – Riley Danard and Khalea Thoeuk. Prosecutors say Lopez-Morales was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes, under the influence of alcohol and THC, speeding up to 100 mph, when his pickup smashed into their car.
After pleading guilty in August to two felony counts of vehicular homicide and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving, today Lopez-Morales – now 37 – was sentenced by King County Superior Court Judge Angela Kaake, before a full courtroom downtown. We watched the hearing via Zoom.
Senior deputy prosecutor Adam Eucker began by saying the prosecution was recommending 148 months (just over 12 years) – the high end of the sentencing range for the felonies, plus a year for the misdemeanor, calling the crash deaths “incredibly tragic. … This was an incredibly violent collision, and two young lives were lost …” They called witnesses from the victims’ families. One of Riley’s relatives, Dave Johnson, spoke of the “lost potential” and how this will affect both families “for the rest of their lives.”
(Photo via GoFundMe)
Riley’s grandmother spoke next, reading a statement from Riley’s mom, her daughter: “They were both young bright souls with their lives ahead of them …” She spoke of Riley’s photography and music skills, sense of humor, and work ethic. “He was always going out of his way to help others.” She talked about picking him up at places and saying “someday I won’t be picking you up, because you’ll be driving me … That day never came.” She also spoke about Khalea, Riley’s best friend, who’d known him since grade school, as “a ray of light.” The “pain of losing a child is unimaginable,” the mom’s statement continued, saying that she believes this should be treated as “first-degree murder. … As a grieving parent, all I ask for is justice for my son and his best friend.” She said – perhaps explaining her absence – that she was unable to stand the thought of being in the same courtroom as Riley and Khalea’s killer.
Riley’s older sister wept on the stand that she sees her brother in her dreams every night and then remembers he’s gone; she works in West Seattle and for so long could not cross the bridge without breaking down. “Because of the deadly actions of a random drunk driver, Riley and Khalea will never get to do anything again. … They were killed for nothing and we are left here trying to pick up the pieces.” His other sister said she is heartbroken that she’ll never see his face or hear his laugh again. She spoke of the final moments she shared with her brother on his birthday hours before he was killed. “The last words we said to each other were ‘I love you’.” She pleaded for a long sentence.
Then Khalea’s family and friends spoke, first an aunt, who spoke on behalf of her mom: “My soul’s been shattered into a million pieces … The moment I was told over the phone that (Khalea was dead … everything) went dark, cold, and empty. … She had plans for her future that were cruelly extinguished in an instant. (She did) not get to graduate high school or start college. … The ripple effects of this tragedy” have affected far more than the family, she said, saying it’s vital that people understand the ramification of decisions to use alcohol or drugs and get behind the family.”
(Photo via GoFundMe)
A friend of both victims asked, “Why were their lives cut short?” while others are still there. She spoke of seeing Khalea everywhere she goes, everything she does. She spoke of going to Riley’s grave, “watching the wind rustle your windchime.” His belongings remain untouched in his room. She spoke of petty complaints about life, “the most trivial details …. only to realize that some of these things I complain about, they never had a chance to experience.” She mentioned that although the charges were dismissed, Lopez-Morales had been caught driving under the influence before, and “it’s clear he has no remorse.”
Another friend sent a letter that was read, speaking of how Khalea stayed with friends’ families because her family had moved to Whidbey Island but she wanted to finish out the year at her high school. She said it could have been her in the car too, “any other day it would have been.” She spoke of the pain of telling others what had happened, and the pain of never getting to share milestones in life with them. “They will never get to move past 18. … All it took was one split-second to change the trajectory of their life and everyone around them.”
The next friend of both victims said both were passionate, smart, and driven, with a future. She still wears Riley’s shirt to bed, and talks to both of them. She said she has been diagnosed with a trauma-processing disorder since their deaths and has had “countless functional seizures” that have affected her studies, and her entire life. The weight of the grief and the weight of her disability both weigh unimaginably heavily on her. “I don’t know if this outcome will bring justice …” she said, acknowledging that what Lopez-Morales did weighs heavily on his family too. She implored the judge to “consider the circumstances” in which the crash happened. “It shouldn’t be a privilege to have known them, but a privilege to watch them grow.”
Another family friend: “The pain resonates through our entire community, not only Snohomish, but also West Seattle. … A little over two weeks ago, Khalea should have been celebrating her 20th birthday. … Riley never got to spend a single day as an adult.” She shared photos taken when she and another family member went to the tow yard to identify the vehicle. “Nothing could have prepared me for the devastating reality of that wreckage … knowing that people we loved died that way.” She read statements from other community members who could not attend. That included one who saw what they believe was Lopez-Morales driving recklessly before the crash, calling 911 and being told others had called. They followed him for about seven minutes in hope of getting him off the road but he was going too fast and lost him. 911 told her that police were out looking for them. Then the next morning she read about the crash and her heart sank. “It breaks my heart to know they were coming to enjoy the beautiful beachfront that West Seattle has to offer … These were not merely statistics. They were Khalea and Riley.”
Yet another friend said “it goes against everything sacred,” to outlive a child. She read an aunt’s statement: “In an instant our world was turned upside down. … Each moment serves as a reminder of their absence. … We plead for awareness, for the ability to change.” She asked that the judge remember the victims had no choice, while the offender did. “We are here to influence change and to ask you to impose the heaviest sentence the law allows.”
Another aunt of Khalea’s said the “depth of our agony is unimaginable .. we are haunted by an emptiness” and a loss that they feel acutely daily. “This isn’t just grief, it’s a permanent wound for us all.” She lamented the “preventable cruelty of it all” and thanked the judge for listening to the “raw pain.”
She was the last prosecution speaker, and a slideshow set to music was then played. (This wasn’t shown on the video feed, so we can’t describe it.) Then, the courtroom went on break. The judge read more letters during the break, and turned it over to the defense after gaveling court back to order.
Lopez-Morales’s lawyer said he agreed that DUI is a scourge and hopes that at least one person will think twice about this sort of “horrible decision” after seeing and hearing about the devastation it caused in his case. He said his client does have remorse, guilt, and regret. Would it have been justice for him to die in the crash too? That would have been easier than dealing with the ramifications of the crash for the rest of his life. He contended that a harsher sentence would not be more validating of the victims’ lives – “you can’t quantify a human life … Sentencing is not about putting a value on a human life.” He asked for 102 months and noted that will be all the more impactful because Lopez-Morales has health issues (he’s in a wheelchair) including cerebral palsy. He has no criminal-conviction history, it was noted. He contended that his client “is not the worst of the worst.” He also said Lopez-Morales’s injuries left him with no memories of what happened.
He read a statement from the defendant’s nephew, saying he “always showed up to help me” throughout his life and that he talks almost daily with Lopez-Morales by phone about “bettering themselves.” That nephew then rose to speak, saying his uncle “is human” and he wanted the families of the victims to know that. “I’m so sorry for all the loss that Delfino caused.”
A niece-in-law spoke next, saying she “had a different respect for him” as he lived his life as a disabled man (the nephew had said the defendant was born with cerebral palsy). She said she hoped the sentencing would go “for the fairness of everyone here.”
His sister then spoke, talking about their mother’s death at 44 and the two siblings getting “smuggled into this country” afterward, with her responsible for caring for him until she became a teenage mother. “There’s nothing I can say or do to repair all the damage” of what he did that night, she said. “My brother is not a bad person … he made a terrible, terrible choice.”
Next was Lopez-Morales’s opportunity to speak. He said he wanted to apologize – “I’m very very sorry for my intoxication and really sorry … for what I did in that situation. I’m very sorry to the families … Khalea’s and Riley’s families .. if I could, I would have chosen my life to perish instead of their life. … That wasn’t my intention of hurting anybody… I would like to say sorry again though ‘sorry’ won’t bring them back.’ He spoke haltingly and through sobs and repeated regret for what he called “my nonsense of being intoxicated … my stupidness.”
The judge then spoke. “These types of cases are difficult for everyone involved.” She spoke about the two young victims, “taken (away) far too soon” and about the effects on the families. She also acknowledged the “mitigating factors” raised by the defense. “This is not an intentional crime – it is a reckless crime.” But he chose to drink and take drugs and get into a vehicle, driving “for miles” and hitting other cars, with other cars “honking at you, flashing their lights,” and yet he did not stop. “By the time you encountered Riley and Khalea, they could not get out of the way.” While “bad decisions do not make a bad person,” he made a “devastatingly poor choice.”
She then gave the sentence the prosecution had requested – 148 months (12 years and 4 months), plus 18 months of community custody (probation). He’s already served some of that time, having been in jail for almost a year and a half.
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