Public Safety

Drinking and Driving Leads to Tragic Consequences

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The theme of the Safe Teen Driving Assembly at Serra High School Friday was “One Poor Choice … “

A 19-year-old Vista man, barely older than the students he was addressing Friday, spoke of the tragic consequences of his terrible choice to drive while intoxicated.

On Oct. 18, 2010, the life of an 18-month-old Oceanside boy, Izaiah Wallis, changed forever when he was struck by a vehicle driven by the speaker, who was then 17-1/2 years old. The driver was admittedly “really, really high” and didn’t even realize he had hit the toddler or his grandfather until later when an officer told him.

“I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe what I had done. I never even saw them. That’s how messed up I was,” he said.

The speaker, who asked not to be identified because he was a juvenile at the time of the offense, served 11 ½ months in the juvenile justice system and is now on probation. He shared his painful story with his peers in hopes of getting them to think twice about the consequences of drinking and driving.

Superior Court Judge Joan Weber introduced the speaker and told the teens that when the crash occurred, the teenager was 2 ½ times over the legal limit for alcohol. Later, the teenager told the students he had smoked a lot of marijuana and the synthetic stimulant spice too.

“What happened to baby Izaiah is such a tragedy that words can hardly express,” said Weber, who showed photographs of the toddler hooked up to hospital machines. “Baby Izaiah suffered severe life-threatening injuries. He almost died and he was hospitalized for months. A year and a half later, he is partially blind and paralyzed from the waist down.”

Weber went on to say that the toddler, who just turned three, unfortunately still cannot speak or eat on his own. She said he will probably need round-the-clock care for the rest of his natural life. His parents were invited to speak as well, but they declined saying it was still too painful. They have never spoken with the teenager, although he wrote a letter of remorse to them as part of the terms of his probation.

Weber showed a video of baby Izaiah running around and smiling before the crash in contrast to the pictures of the child crying as nurses changed out a tube. The teenager did not look away when the photos were shown and he watched the video.

When it was his turn to speak, he told the teenagers he had sat where they were a little more than two years ago. And he had laughed with his friends during these kinds of presentations. He never thought he would be where he was now. He hoped they would take the message seriously.

After taking them through the events of that horrific day, he told them about his emotional struggles.

“The hardest part of this whole experience has been dealing with my emotions and feelings and thoughts,” the teenager said.

He said he was angry most of the time. He knew a lot of people didn’t like him because of what he had done and his friends warned him that people wanted to kill him when he got out.

“I was more mad at myself than anything else because of what I had done,” he said. “I started realizing, I mean I’m really sorry for what I did to baby Izaiah. You guys saw the video right now. I had to deal with that and I have to deal with that for the rest of my life. I affected him so so much. I mean he was barely starting to live life and I messed it up for him.”

He also wanted them to know that being incarcerated was difficult for him. He had heard other people talk about it not being that bad, but they were wrong. He missed his family, basic comforts and freedom, and he was attacked twice by other detainees.

Finally, he told the students that he would not wish what happened to him and Baby Izaiah on anyone. He hoped that they would listen to what he had said and would take his challenge not to drink and drive on weekends or for the upcoming prom.

“This type of terrible decision can impact the entire rest of your life,” Weber said. “You can’t take back a mistake like this ever.”

Now supervised by County Probation, the teenager remains under intensive supervision. He has a 6 p.m. curfew, must undergo regular alcohol and drug testing and has unannounced visits from his probation officer. His license is suspended and he could be on probation until he is 21 years old.

At the end of the presentation, Serra High School students approached him and thanked him for sharing his story. One group of boys asked him if they could pray with him and they quietly formed a circle and bowed their heads.

Yvette Urrea Moe is a communications specialist with the County of San Diego Communications Office. Contact