More than a year after a Ford Mustang slammed into a Toyota RAV4 at the intersection of East Granada Boulevard and Vining Court, Ormond Beach police have obtained an arrest warrant for the driver they say caused the crash that killed 68-year-old Paul Monroe Booker. Officers arrested 23-year-old Francisco Guzman-Rivera on September 24, and he now faces charges of driving under the influence resulting in death, vehicular homicide, and possession of cannabis of not more than 20 grams.
The crash happened on August 8, 2025, when Guzman-Rivera, then 22, was driving a black 2012 Ford Mustang convertible east on Granada Boulevard while Booker was turning left from Vining Court onto the same road in a white 2021 Toyota RAV4, according to WFTV. Police, fire, and EMS crews responded to what was described as a serious two-vehicle collision, and both drivers were taken to the hospital as trauma alerts. Booker later died from his injuries. As reported by WKMG ClickOrlando, Guzman-Rivera was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail and is being held without bond, according to the corrections department.
In the immediate aftermath of the crash, police said preliminary findings indicated that speed and alcohol may have contributed to the collision. Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey called the collision a “senseless and preventable tragedy” and emphasized that readily available rideshare services and designated drivers leave no excuse for driving after drinking, according to a statement reported by FOX 35 Orlando. The investigation was assigned to Officer Rick Taylor, who appealed to the public for witnesses in the days following the crash, per the same station's report.
Why It Took 13 Months To File Charges
The gap between the fatal crash and Guzman-Rivera's arrest spanned more than a year, a timeline that reflects the layered legal process behind vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter cases in Florida. Prosecuting these cases typically requires toxicology testing, subpoenaed medical records, vehicle black-box data extraction, and formal accident reconstruction to meet the state's standard for proving criminal recklessness, factors that routinely stretch out the run-up to formal charges in similar cases across the state.
Guzman-Rivera now faces two distinct legal tracks. Under Florida Statute § 316.193, DUI manslaughter is a second-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum of four years in state prison, a maximum of 15 years, and permanent driver's license revocation, according to Online Sunshine. Separately, Florida Statute § 782.071 makes vehicular homicide a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, requiring prosecutors to prove the driver operated the vehicle in a manner reckless enough to likely cause death or great bodily harm.
The stakes could run even higher than the statutory minimum. Under Florida's Criminal Punishment Code, a crash fatality automatically assigns 120 “victim injury points,” which typically pushes the calculated minimum guidelines sentence for a DUI manslaughter conviction to between 10 and 12 years in prison before any prior record is even factored in, according to legal analysis from Blake & Dorsten, P.A.
A Corridor With A History Of Deadly Crashes
East Granada Boulevard is a primary east-west commercial thoroughfare in Ormond Beach, a city long known as the “Birthplace of Speed” for the early 20th-century automobile speed trials once held on its beach sands, according to the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce. The Florida Department of Transportation and city officials have been making ongoing infrastructure adjustments along the corridor, including median and curb modifications intended to manage traffic flow and improve safety, as reported by Observer Local News.
Booker's death adds to a grim tally for the county. Volusia County recorded 108 traffic fatalities across 9,014 total crashes in 2024, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Nationally, alcohol-impaired driving crashes resulted in an estimated 11,904 fatalities in 2024, per National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data cited by the Brancato Law Firm, P.A. Ormond Beach has seen other fatal roadway incidents in recent months, including a cyclist killed on U.S. 1 earlier this month and a young resident killed on I-4 near DeLand.
Guzman-Rivera remains held without bond at the Volusia County Branch Jail as the case moves forward. What blood-alcohol or substance results toxicology testing ultimately returned, and how fast his Mustang was traveling at the moment of impact, have not been disclosed.
