A 63-year-old bicyclist is dead and a Modesto man faces a murder charge after police say he fled the scene of a hit-and-run crash near Needham Street and McHenry Avenue on Monday afternoon. Officers later tracked down 33-year-old Manuel Cerrillo-Mendoza, and he now faces some of the most serious charges available under California law for a fatal DUI crash.
According to CBS Sacramento, the crash happened around 4 p.m. Monday when Cerrillo-Mendoza, driving a Chevrolet Silverado, turned into an alley west of McHenry Avenue and struck a bicyclist who was traveling on Alice Street. The bicyclist died from the injuries, and Cerrillo-Mendoza left the scene rather than stopping, police said. Officers eventually found the pickup elsewhere in Modesto and stopped Cerrillo-Mendoza near 9th and M streets.
That stop didn't happen by chance. Modesto Police used the department's Real-Time Crime Center alongside patrol units to locate the white Silverado before closing in on the suspect, according to ABC10. A DUI investigation determined Cerrillo-Mendoza was driving under the influence at the time of the crash, and police say he has a prior DUI-related history.
How California's Watson Murder Rule Works
Police booked Cerrillo-Mendoza under California Penal Code Section 187 for murder, Vehicle Code 20001(c) for hit-and-run resulting in death, and Vehicle Code 23153(a)/(b) for DUI causing injury or death, after consulting with the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office, the station's report notes. California's Watson rule is one legal basis for a second-degree murder charge in a fatal DUI case.
The rule traces back to a 1981 California Supreme Court case. Under what's known as the Watson murder rule, a driver who causes a fatal DUI crash can be charged with second-degree murder if prosecutors can prove implied malice, typically through prior DUI convictions or a signed legal admonition acknowledging the danger of drunk driving, according to Shouse Law Group. A Watson admonition may be read to a defendant or acknowledged on a form; a prior warning or DUI school is common but not required in every case.
If convicted, a second-degree Watson murder charge carries a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in state prison, according to legal analysis from the Law Offices of David S. Chesley. That's a far steeper potential sentence than standard gross vehicular manslaughter, which tops out at 10 years. Authorities have not released the bicyclist's name as they continue to notify next of kin.
A City Already Struggling With Deadly Roads
Monday's crash marked Modesto's 10th deadly traffic crash of 2026, arriving just four days after another fatal crash on Claus Road shut down major corridors in the city, as Hoodline previously reported. The back-to-back fatalities land in a city that has long struggled with traffic safety. In the California Office of Traffic Safety's 2022 city crash rankings, Modesto ranked worst among 61 similarly sized California cities for total fatal and injury collisions, logging 2,066 injury or fatal crash victims that year.
In August 2024, a fatal crash occurred on McHenry Avenue near Standiford Avenue, according to ABC10.
City leaders have taken some steps to respond. In March, Modesto expanded staffing in its police traffic unit and began installing red-light enforcement cameras after an internal risk assessment flagged traffic safety as a top municipal hazard, Hoodline reported. Statewide, bicyclist fatalities in motor vehicle crashes actually fell nearly 21 percent between 2022 and 2023, dropping from 183 deaths to 145, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety — a trend that stands in contrast to Modesto's recent run of fatal crashes.
