Man to be sentenced in cyclist’s death

A Huntington Beach man who killed a 14-year-old bicyclist while driving under the influence of two prescription drugs and text messaging more than two years ago is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.

Jeffrey Woods, 22, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison after being found guilty of one felony count of vehicular manslaughter by unlawful acts with gross negligence while intoxicated. Woods is in custody and will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Room C-1 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

The sentencing was moved to a larger courtroom with expectations for a large crowd, court officials said.

Danny Oates was riding his bike along Indianapolis Avenue and Everglades Lane about noon Aug. 29, 2007, with a friend when Woods swerved across the median onto the wrong side of the road and hit Danny with his Ford 150 pick-up truck.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Prosecutor Susan Aramesh Price argued that Woods was driving aggressively and erratically because of the combination of drugs in his system — Xanax and Vicodin.

After Woods hit Danny, he went over the curb and hit a tree before crashing through a wall. Danny was thrown more than 150 feet and died on impact.

Woods was also distracted by text messaging at the time of the collision.

Defense attorney Scott Well had argued Woods had an epileptic seizure and was unconscious at the time of the accident.

The community still remembers Danny with paddle-out ceremonies on the anniversary of his death and birthday and a Christmas tree trimming around his grave. Friends decorate a cross at Indianapolis Avenue and Everglades Lane where Danny was killed.

— Britney Barnes