Accused driver pleads not guilty in fatal Fresno DUI crash case

Courtney Marie Laplaca pleaded not guilty in Fresno County court as prosecutors began laying out a fatal crash case tied to the death of 39-year-old John Mendoza. The hearing turned a northeast Fresno collision into a formal criminal proceeding, with Mendoza’s family now waiting to see whether the evidence will support a manslaughter conviction.

Police say the crash happened Friday night just after 10 p.m. near Gettysburg Avenue and Millbrook Avenue, when Laplaca veered into the bike lane and rear-ended Mendoza as he rode a motorized razor scooter. Mendoza was wearing a helmet and appropriate lighting equipment, and his mother, Patricia Santana, said a friend riding in the same direction witnessed the crash and that Mendoza had been headed to a friend’s house.

Court reporting identified Laplaca as 43 years old. Prosecutors said her blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit and described her behavior at the scene as flirty, laughing, and then crying hysterically for hours. Laplaca is being held on a $422,000 bond and, according to the reporting, has no prior DUI history or criminal record. She is due back in court on May 27.

The not-guilty plea marks the start of a case that could hinge on what prosecutors can prove about intoxication, driving conduct and negligence. Under California Penal Code section 191.5, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated requires an unlawful killing committed while driving under the influence with gross negligence. A conviction can carry a state prison sentence of 4, 6 or 10 years.

For Mendoza’s family, the case is also personal. Santana said she feels numb and wants justice for her son, while also warning others not to drive under the influence. The loss has added another name to Fresno’s grim traffic count: the Fresno Police Department said it has responded to 10 deadly crashes so far this year, three of them DUI-related, after seven deadly crashes involving DUI drivers in 2025.

That local toll fits a broader pattern researchers have tracked across the Central Valley. A Fresno State analysis of fatal DUI crashes in 12 Central California counties found a regional rate of about 6 per 100,000, above the statewide average. Another report put Fresno County’s DUI fatal crash rate at 3.34 per 100,000 people, compared with California’s 2.42 per 100,000. As Laplaca’s case moves toward the May 27 hearing, the question is no longer whether a life was lost in northeast Fresno, but whether prosecutors can prove the conduct behind it rises to the level of a felony that carries prison time.