Father: ‘I’m just glad it’s over’

A Huntington Beach man accused of killing a 14-year-old bicyclist was found guilty today.

Jeffrey Woods, 22, is guilty of one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful acts with gross negligence while intoxicated. Woods was taken into custody and will be sentenced Dec. 11.

The charge holds a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison. Woods pleaded not guilty in December and has been out on $100,000 bail.

While the verdict was being read, the boy’s mother, Kristi Oates, was trembling. Afterward, she said she was relieved that Woods was held accountable for his actions.

“I’m glad that he didn’t kill Danny and get away with it,” she said

After four weeks of trial and more than two years after the accident, the boy’s father, Paul Oates, said the family can get on with their lives.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” he said.

Danny Oates was riding his bike along Indianapolis Avenue and Everglades Lane around noon Aug. 29, 2007 with a friend when Woods swerved across the median onto the wrong side of the road and hit Danny with his Ford 150 pick-up truck.

Orange County District Attorney Prosecutor Susan Aramesh Price argued that Woods was driving aggressively and erratically because of the combination of drugs in his system — Xanax and Vicodin.

“There is no explanation for how he was driving other than impairment,” Aramesh Price said. “This person was driving down the road with two drugs in his system, sending text messages about drugs.”

After Woods hit Danny, he went over the curb and hit a tree before crashing through a wall. Danny was thrown more than 150 feet and died on impact.

Woods was also distracted by text messaging at the time of the collision. He sent a text message at 2:09 p.m., and the accident was called into 911 at 2:10 p.m.

Defense Attorney Scott Well had argued Woods had a epileptic seizure and was unconscious at the time of the accident.

The trial was moved to a larger courtroom to accommodate Danny’s family and friends who packed the courtroom. At closing arguments, people were turned away and had to rotate in after lunch.

The community still remembers Danny with paddle-out ceremonies on the anniversary of his death and birthday and a Christmas tree trimming around his grave. Friends decorated a cross at Indianapolis Avenue and Everglades Lane where Danny was killed.

“It’s kind of just ripped apart the community,” said Michaela Miller, a friend of the family.

Miller said she went to high school with Woods and said he is a “bad person,” but her father disagreed.

“The real issue is drugs. This is what happens when a good kid from a good family takes drugs,” Bob Miller said.