After 2 DUIs he drove drunk again, killing 1 in Puyallup crash. Here’s his sentence
A Tacoma man with two prior DUI-related offenses has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for crashing his car while drunk in Puyallup last year, killing a 45-year-old man and injuring another person.
Donald M. Oglesby II pleaded guilty last month to DUI vehicular homicide for the Nov. 27, 2022 fatal crash on South Meridian. Superior Court Judge Michael Schwartz on Friday handed down the punishment, which carried a sentencing range of 10-and-a-half to 12-and-a-half years in prison. Oglesby, 33, also was ordered to undergo an evaluation for substance-abuse treatment.
According to court records, Oglesby was driving a BMW south in the early hours of the morning when he struck Edwin Martinez, who had stopped his car in the road to get out and clear a shopping cart and other debris from the roadway. A woman in the passenger seat of Martinez’s car reportedly suffered two spinal fractures. Oglesby allegedly told responding Puyallup Police Department officers he was driving home from the Big Whisky Saloon when the crash occurred and that he’d used cannabis and drank at a friend’s house earlier in the day.
Martinez was declared dead at the scene. In a victim statement submitted to the court, Martinez’s son wrote that his father was a “pillar of support,” whose death caused profound grief in his community and left their family forever changed. He requested a maximum sentence for Oglesby.
“My father was a kind-hearted and compassionate individual who was cherished by all who knew him,” Daniel Serrno wrote. “He dedicated his life to his family, always providing love, support and guidance. Losing him in such a cruel and preventable manner has left us devastated, struggling to comprehend the magnitude of our loss.”
Oglesby’s license was suspended when the deadly crash occurred, according to court records, and it was the third DUI-related offense he’s been charged with in five years. He was charged with DUI in Seattle in 2018, and he faced another DUI charge in 2021 that was later amended to reckless driving. In his most recent case, police arrested him shortly after the collision, and he has remained in custody since.
When officers were dispatched shortly after 2 a.m. to the 2300 block of South Meridian, records state, they found Oglesby’s BMW with extreme front-end damage with blood on a shattered portion of its windshield. About 10 feet in front of it was a 2021 Buick with damage to its rear and passenger side. Martinez was lying between the two vehicles.
Oglesby allegedly told police he never saw the vehicle and that it had been stopped with no flashers on when he hit it. A police sergeant noted that the other car’s lights were on when he arrived, but he wasn’t the first law enforcement officer on scene. Based on evidence at the scene and witness statements, investigators determined Martinez was clearing debris or examining damage to his car when he was struck.
