She ignored court’s DUI warnings. Now Fresno woman is going to prison for murder

Five years after her initial arrest, a Fresno woman was sentenced on Tuesday for her role in a fatal DUI collision.

Leigha Linae Addington was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison following an April conviction for second-degree murder. According to a release from the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, jurors deliberated for less than one hour before finding Addington guilty of second-degree murder, driving on a suspended license causing injury and driving with a blood alcohol concentration above .01% while on probation for driving under the influence. There were also six aggravating factors in the sentencing, according to the DA’s Office.

Addington was driving on Highway 180 near Cornelia Avenue when she allowed her SUV to drift onto the right dirt shoulder. Overcorrecting, she then crossed into oncoming traffic. “The vehicle that was traveling eastbound on 180 swerved to the right, taking evasive action but the two cars collided,” an CHP officers testified during a preliminary hearing in 2022.

“There was debris everywhere.”

According to testimony, Addington told officers she had been trying to retrieve her phone, or had maybe fallen asleep at the wheel. A preliminary breath test showed her blood alcohol concentration was at least .26%. Subsequent testing also revealed the presence of cocaine and THC, according to the DA’s Office.

Addington had already been twice convicted of DUI prior to the 2021 crash. She was on probation, which required an ignition interlock device to drive, and had been warned by the courts that murder charges were possible if she were ever responsible for someone being killed.

Brenda Sue Ricci, 65, of Fresno

That someone was Brenda Sue Ricci, a 65-year-old newly-retired hairdresser on her way home from visiting relatives when she was struck head-on. Ricci was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where she survived for nearly a month before being taken off of life support and passing.

During sentencing, family members remembered her “as a loving wife, sister, aunt, and friend whose kindness, creativity, and generosity touched countless lives,” according DA.

“Family members spoke of Brenda’s lifelong commitment to caring for others, her ability to make holidays and special occasions memorable for those she loved, and the lasting void left by her death.”

Her husband Mark Booze, told The Bee in April that he was still dealing with the loss of his wife of 23 years and that he was thankful prosecutors sought murder charges. “For us, seeing her convicted of the maximum charges is justice.”