Driver sentenced to over five years for 124-mph crash that killed two passengers

Leonardo Rodriguez, 21, was sentenced this week to more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter. The incident happened early on October 31, 2024, when Rodriguez drove a black Honda Accord south on U.S. 101 near Thousand Oaks and tried to overtake a car in the slow lane by using the shoulder. Reaching a speed of 124 mph, he collided with a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder, ejecting his girlfriend, Serenity Rizkalla, and his friend, Michael Estrella, from the vehicle; both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Rodriguez and another passenger escaped with minor injuries. Deputy District Attorney George Brietigam called the crash “preventable” and said the sentencing aims to provide the victims’ families with some measure of closure. The Ventura County district attorney’s office released the details in a statement.