Teen Drunk Driver Pleads Guilty in Thornton Crash That Killed Father of Eight

Two days after his nineteenth birthday, David Mendez-Reyes admitted in court to causing a deadly crash while driving intoxicated last year.

The Brighton teenager pleaded guilty to one count of felony vehicular homicide DUI on Thursday, January 29, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. He is currently out on bond and is scheduled to be sentenced in Adams County Court on March 27.

Mendez-Reyes faces four to twelve years in prison, according to the DA’s office. He was reportedly driving 117 miles per hour on March 20, 2025, when he ran a red light and struck a turning vehicle at the intersection of East 120th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Thornton, according to his arrest affidavit.

The other driver, 35-year-old Christian ‘Melo’ Santamaria, was killed instantly.

Mendez-Reyes was found naked and acting erratically at the crash scene, attempting to get back into his burning vehicle, 9News reported.

His blood alcohol content was 0.151, according to the arrest affidavit. That’s nearly double the DUI threshold for drivers over 21 and more than seven times the threshold for underaged drinkers. Toxicology results also showed evidence of marijuana in his system.

At the time of the crash, Mendez-Reyes was an eighteen-year-old senior at Brighton High School, out on spring break. His driver’s license was already suspended due to excessive points, 9News reported.

Mendez-Reyes was arrested in late June, three months after the crash. He was initially charged with vehicular homicide reckless driving and driving under restraint, in addition to vehicular homicide DUI, according to the Thornton Police Department. The former two charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

The victim, Santamaria, was a father of eight children, aged two to fourteen.

Santamaria was the oldest of four siblings, worked as a landscaper in Thornton and was an avid fan of basketball and Pokémon, according to his obituary.

“Christian had one of the biggest hearts in the world,” Santamaria’s obituary reads. “He would open his heart to anyone he knew. …Christian had the energy to lift anyone’s spirits up when people were feeling down. Christian was loved by many people, and Christian made a huge impact on the people he loved most. Christian is missed dearly and loved by everyone he leaves behind.”

Donations can be made to Santamaria’s family at gofundme.com.