Concord teen gets 12 years, 8 months for killing 86-year-old man in hit-and-run DUI crash

CONCORD — Just four months after he was charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of an 86-year-old man, a local teen agreed to plead no contest and receive a sentence of 12 years and eight months in state prison, court records show.

Damian Lopez-Avelino, 19, of Concord, pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter, drunk driving, and fleeing the scene of an accident, all felonies, in connection with the crash that killed 86-year-old Thomas O’Connell and injured O’Connell’s wife. The crash occurred around 6:50 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day 2023, on Oak Grove Road near Treat Boulevard.

Lopez-Avelino caused a hit-and-run crash shortly before slamming into the O’Connell’s car, then tried to make a getaway but was stopped by onlookers, according to Concord police.

It started when Lopez-Avelino — driving a Ford Fusion north on Oak Grove Road — swerved and hit a Toyota Tacoma in a southbound lane. The driver of the Tacoma, angered, made a quick u-turn and began to pursue Lopez-Avelino. As he was attempting to escape the Tacoma, Lopez-Avelino collided into a Toyota Camry containing O’Connell and his wife, on their way home from Thanksgiving dinner with their family, police said.

After the second collision, Lopez-Avelino bailed out and attempted to flee on foot, but the Tacoma’s driver had other ideas. He caught up to Lopez-Avelino and wrestled him to the ground. Lopez-Avelino broke free and attempted to flee again, but by then several bystanders who’d seen what happened ran up and surrounded him until police arrived, authorities said.

O’Connell, a passenger in the Camry, was killed, and his wife, the driver, was briefly hospitalized, authorities said. Lopez-Avelino pleaded no contest back in March, and was sentenced last month, court records show.

On April 22, Lopez-Avelino was transferred to North Kern State Prison, where he remains, records show. Prosecutors dropped charges of leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a valid license as part of the deal. He received credit for roughly 150 days spent in jail while the case was pending.