Yuba City man pleads guilty in DUI fatal accident

A Yuba City man faces up to four years in prison for a drunken driving accident that killed two of his friends.

Abdul Umar Hay, who was 20 at the time of the November 2008 accident at Highway 99 and Clark Road, pleaded guilty Friday in Sutter County Superior Court to a felony charge of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Killed in the car Hay was driving were Mathew Stephen Fair and Rafael Courtland Walker, both 20.

Judge Chris Chandler set a March 12 sentencing for Hay, who is free on bail and represented by attorney Justin Scott.

Fair's mother, Lisa Woods, was distraught over the plea agreement and said she plans to bring her son's ashes to the sentencing.

"You get more for fraud than for killing somebody. Why is that?" she said in a courthouse hallway after the hearing.

"They trusted him as a designated driver," she said.

Woods said she did not receive a letter of apology from Hay until a year after the accident.

"I'm mad they drug this out a year and kept us upset," said Fair's father, Richard Fair.

The length of the legal process was typical for a case of that type, Assistant District Attorney Jana McClung said.

Hay's sentence could range anywhere from probation and county jail time to four years in prison. Four years is the maximum under the law, McClung said.

The charge did not include gross negligence or malice.

The three men, all Yuba City High School graduates, were headed home from an all-night party in Live Oak when Hay ran a stop sign on Clark road. The Toyota Corolla was hit broadside on the passenger side by a Ford Explorer on Highway 99.

A California Highway Patrol report indicated Hay may have fallen asleep at the wheel. Fair and Walker, who were sitting on the passenger side, were killed instantly.

When tested a few hours later at Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Hay had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.12, or four points over the legal limit.

"These are tough cases," McClung said.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.