CARMICHAEL, Calif. (AP) - A man is facing as much as 23 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in a hit-and-run crash in Northern California that killed another man and four dogs.
A Sacramento County jury also convicted Paul William Walden on Tuesday of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.
According to authorities, witnesses put Walden’s speed around 70 mph when he struck 21-year-old Harison Long-Randall, his girlfriend, Gemily West, and West’s four dogs on a street in Carmichael in 2012. The collision tore off Long-Randall’s leg. He died 13 days later.
West suffered a broken leg.
Walden, who had three previous DUI convictions, testified that he fell asleep at the wheel. Prosecutors said he may have been on heroin.
Walden’s attorney, Michael Long, tells the Sacramento Bee (https://bit.ly/1jtdUAF) he plans to appeal the verdict.
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Information from: The Sacramento Bee, https://www.sacbee.com
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