‘We have suffered tremendously.’ Fresno man sentenced in DUI crash that killed 19-year-old
In an emotional court hearing, James Mitchell Anderson was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison for DUI and causing the crash that killed Carson Gates, 19, in northeast Fresno.
Anderson, 28, was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI under a combined influence of a drugs and alcohol, while also causing injury.
The crash happened at the intersection of Nees and Chestnut avenues on April 25, 2020. Anderson was driving his pickup truck eastbound on Nees Avenue approaching Chestnut Avenue when he ran a red light. He broadsided a sedan carrying Gates and his girlfriend Vana Kendirjian, who was 17 at the time.
Anderson pleaded no contest to the charges and appeared emotional as several of Gates’s family members and his girlfriend spoke about how the well-liked teen’s death has caused them tremendous grief and sadness.
“Our family is small, but we are close and we have suffered tremendously,” said Carson’s aunt Lisa Bawcom. “Words can’t describe the level of pain (Anderson) has brought to our family.”
Carson’s father Rick Gates said the loss of his son has been devastating. Gates was a single father and Carson was his only child.
“Because of Mr. Anderson’s reckless and irresponsible actions on April 25, 2020, not only did he take my son and my only child, he took my hopes, he took my dreams and he took being a father away from me,” Gates said. “(Carson) was my life. He was all I knew, he was all I had and he gave my life purpose that I didn’t know existed before him.”
Gates went on to say that he looked forward to see Carson get married and become a father.
“I loved the thought of being a grandpa and playing with my grand kids,” Gates said. “But I will never know what that is like.”
Gates said he will never forget the last day he saw Carson, driving away with his girlfriend, fixing his hair in the car’s side mirror.
“I had no idea it would be the last time I would see my son alive,” Gates said as he began to cry. “In a blink of an eye, it was all gone. My son left the house a living breathing, happy person. A pair of shoes, one sock and a noise ring covered in dried blood is what came home to me in a bag.”
Anderson chose not to speak, but his attorney Martin Gamulin said on his behalf that he was extremely remorseful for causing the fatal crash. After the sentencing Gamulin hugged Rick Gates in the hallway.
Carson’s girlfriend Kendirjian, who was in the car when the crash happened, said she struggles to remember the moments before the crash. She was knocked unconscious and woke up to seeing police and rescue workers around her.
“It doesn’t feel fair for me to be alive and he isn’t,” she said, as she began to cry. ”That day runs through my head like a broken record. Learning to live with this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I didn’t just lose Carson that day, I lost myself.”
Kendirjian abruptly stopped reading her statement, telling the judge she couldn’t continue.
Carson’s aunt, Rhiannon Maloney, said her nephew was a shining light who brought joy to those around him. She will never forget getting the news of Carson’s death. She was at Morro Bay when her sister called her.
“I dropped to me knees in the stand where I stayed screaming and crying for over an hour,” she said. “I felt like someone ripped out my heart and punched me in the stomach.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2022 at 4:26 PM.
