money Woman sentenced in fatal Fresno DUI crash. ‘Slap on the wrist,’ victim’s girlfriend says
A 25-year-old Fresno woman who got two DUI’s within six months last year was sentenced Wednesday to six years and eight months in prison for a fatal crash that killed a 38-year-old passenger in her car.
Angie Hlee Thao apologized to the family of her passenger, Yang Vue, and to her own family for her actions.
“I have hurt a chain of innocent people and I wholeheartedly apologize,” she said as she began to cry.
Police said Thao was driving her Acura RSX north on Marks Avenue at about 4 a.m. on July 2, 2022, when she ran a stop sign on Jensen Avenue. Thao collided with a Nissan pickup truck that slammed into the passenger side of her car, killing Vue.
Thao was also injured and taken to Community Regional Medical Center. She was treated and later booked into Fresno County Jail.
She was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or more causing injury and DUI while causing injury.
In May, Thao pleaded no contest to all the charges.
During Wednesday’s sentencing before Judge Gabriel Brickey, Thao’s attorney, TJ Gill, did not oppose the sentence and said he believes Thao is truly sorry.
“I have met with her frequently and there has not been a meeting that did not end with tears or sobbing, “ Gill said. “She took the life of someone she cared about.”
Prior DUI cited by DA’s office
Prosecutor Steven Ueltzen asked for more than six years and eight months, adding that Thao may not have learned her lesson about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Several months prior to the July crash, Thao picked up her first DUI with an injury.
In that case, Thao was charged with DUI with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08% or more and DUI of alcohol while causing injury.
Thao was instructed not to drink and drive while the case was pending.
Ueltzen said he pushed the judge, a different one at the time, to place Thao on an alcohol monitoring system, but it was denied.
Thao was released with strict orders to not drink and drive.
“Yet, she chose to do it anyway and she killed someone,” Ueltzen said.
Victim’s girlfriend calls sentence ‘slap on the wrist’
Vue’s longtime girlfriend, Kie Vang, also wanted to Thao to spend more time in prison. She called the sentence a “slap on the wrist.”
“Why is it that taking a life while driving drunk is not seen as being more serious?” Vang said after the sentencing.
Vang said dealing with her boyfriend’s death has been difficult on several levels. It is not clear why Thao and Vue were together in her car at 4 a.m.
“How would you feel if you were the girlfriend and you woke up to that phone call from an officer telling you he (Vang) died in a fatal accident and then they tell you his girlfriend was driving,” Vang said. “It has been mentally exhausting.”
Vang and Vue had been together for 17 years. She said he was well-liked by many and always the life of the party.
“He will be missed by a lot of people,” she said.
