BRIGHTON, Colo. — A Brighton teen who pleaded guilty in connection with a crash in Thornton that killed a father of eight has been sentenced to prison.
David Mendez-Reyes, 19, pleaded guilty in January to vehicular homicide-DUI and was sentenced Friday to seven years in the Department of Corrections, court records show.
Mendez-Reyes was 18 and a Brighton High School senior at the time of the March 2025 crash, which happened at the intersection of 120th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. Police believed he was drunk, high and going an estimated 115 mph when he hit a vehicle driven by 35-year-old Christian “Melo” Santamaria, who died at the scene. Mendez-Reyes was arrested the following June…