SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – In a statement released Thursday, Santa Barbara County District Attorney John T. Savrnoch shared his disappointment following the sentencing of a Santa Barbara resident charged in a fatal vehicle crash last year.
On Tuesday, 29-year-old Katelyn Fultz of Santa Barbara was sentenced to five years of probation in Santa Barbara Superior Court, having previously pleaded no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
On the morning of May 1, 2025, three people – including Fultz – were transported to the hospital following a head-on collision on Highway 154. The crash left 24-year-old Carly Howard in a coma, and the passenger Albert Ineira sustained injuries including a laceration requiring stitches and a fractured foot.
Howard later died from her injuries.
According to the District Attorney's office, toxicology results showed Fultz had a blood alcohol content of 0.167%, causing her to crossed over double yellow lines and cause the fatal crash.
Fultz pleaded no contest to the all charges and enhancements filed against her earlier this year, including gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, and driving without a license.
Despite recommendations from the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office and the Probation Department, the Court reduced Fultz's DUI to a misdemeanor and sentence her to five years of probation with a six year suspended prison term and ordered Fultz to serve 270 days in county jail.
District Attorney John T. Savrnoch expressed his disappointment in a statement shared with your News Channel:
“This sentence is profoundly shocking and does not come close to reflecting the magnitude of the loss suffered by Carly Howard’s family. A young woman lost her life because of a series of reckless, illegal, and dangerous decisions by the defendant—driving under the influence of both alcohol and cocaine, at nearly twice the legal limit, without a valid license.”
“Our office sought a significant state prison sentence because that is what justice and public safety demand in a case like this. When someone chooses to drive in that condition and takes a life, there must be real consequences.”
"While nothing can undo the harm caused, this appallingly lenient sentence sends the wrong message about the seriousness of impaired driving. We at the District Attorney’s Office remain committed to aggressively prosecuting DUI cases and standing with victims and their families in the pursuit of accountability."
Fultz will return to Department 11 on April 28, 2026, to formalize the terms of her probation.
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