In a revision of fate, 54-year-old Toam Shelton Doane, originally convicted by a jury for a fatal 2016 car crash, opted to change his plea to no contest to felony vehicular manslaughter, the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office reported. This decision, coming in the wake of a reversed conviction by the court of appeal, has Doane facing seven years in state prison, foregoing the uncertainty of a second trial.

Toam Shelton Doane (54) pled no contest to felony veh. manslaughter, sentenced to 7 yrs state prison. Originally convicted by jury in '17, conviction reversed by court of appeal, new plea in lieu of 2nd trial. 2016, he killed another driver when he swerved into oncoming traffic. pic.twitter.com/mtgfNY4PJv

— San Mateo County District Attorney (@SanMateoCoDA) March 26, 2024

The case dates back to 2016, when Doane swerved his vehicle into oncoming traffic, resulting in the death of another driver – a harsh reality that now has him sentenced without the prospect of another jury's deliberation. The details of the incident were brought to light once again, with Doane's desperate words after the crash, "I need to die ... I really just need to die," as recounted by witnesses and reported by the East Bay Times.

The victim, Francois Jouaux, an Apple software engineer and married father of two, had worked at the tech giant for over two decades. He was remembered as an avid outdoorsman who sought to seize life beyond the confines of screens and pages. Arancha Jouaux, his widow, reflected on her late husband's zest for life in an interview, saying, "Whenever the weekend came, he didn’t just sit in front of the computer or read a book. He would just go out and have fun, but in a happy way."

Following the crash, Doane was arrested after seeking medical care for severe injuries to his arm and hand, which he claimed were sustained in a motorcycle accident. Doane, with two prior DUI convictions and allegedly appearing intoxicated at the time of the fatal accident, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment, though this stance has now shifted. If the conviction had remained, the maximum sentence faced by Doane might have been a mere four years, as stated by District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe during the period of legal maneuvering.