Drunk driver sentenced to 8 years in prison for fatal Lemon Grove crash

A man who drove drunk and headed the wrong way down a Lemon Grove street, crashing head-on into another vehicle, was sentenced Friday to eight years in state prison.

James Mendias, 29, pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other charges for the crash that killed Tonia Silva, 36.

Silva was the front seat passenger of a Ford Explorer that Mendias crashed into around 8 p.m. on June 29, 2025 in the 8400 block of Broadway.

Silva’s 15-year-old son was also a passenger in the vehicle and her fiance was driving, Deputy District Attorney Yasmin Bigdeli said Friday during Mendias’ sentencing hearing.

According to video evidence and a witness account from an off-duty law enforcement officer, Mendias’ pickup truck was traveling west in the eastbound lanes.

The prosecutor said Mendias was driving 70 mph at the time of the crash. When Silva’s fiance tried to swerve out of his path, Mendias’ truck “mirrored” the maneuver and turned into the victims’ vehicle.

Mendias’ blood-alcohol level was later measured at 0.16%, twice the legal driving limit in California, according to Bigdeli.

Sheriff’s officials said that after the crash, open alcohol containers and a canister of nitrous oxide were located in and around Mendias’ pickup truck.

Mendias’ defense attorney, Charles Gilliland, said his client was remorseful and sought to resolve the case early before a preliminary hearing could be held in order to spare the victim’s family from having to relive the facts of the case in court.

Prior to being sentenced, Mendias told Silva’s family members in attendance, “Sorry isn’t enough” and “I know if I had the power to change things, I would 100 percent change it.’