A 21-year-old man living in Plant City is facing DUI manslaughter charges after troopers say he blew through a red light at Gibsonton Drive and U.S. 41 early Saturday morning, slamming into another vehicle and killing its driver, a 54-year-old Gibsonton man. The crash happened around 3:45 a.m. on October 10, 2026, at an intersection with a documented history of deadly collisions.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Pablo Alfredo Mendez-Leyva was driving a Ford pickup west on Gibsonton Drive when he entered the intersection against a red light and struck a Cadillac Escalade traveling north on U.S. 41, as reported by WFTV. Both drivers were taken to hospitals, but the Escalade driver later died from his injuries, troopers said. His name has not been released. Mendez-Leyva, originally from Oregon, was living in Plant City at the time of the collision, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Florida Highway Patrol arrested Mendez-Leyva and booked him into the Orient Road Jail, per the station's report. He now faces two felony counts: DUI manslaughter and driving without a valid license resulting in death.
A Stretch of Road Already Flagged for Danger
The intersection where the crash occurred isn't new to tragedy. Back in December 2021, a fatal crash happened at that same intersection of Gibsonton Drive and U.S. 41 when a vehicle struck and killed a person riding a tricycle, according to WTSP. The danger isn't confined to one intersection, either — the nearby crossing of U.S. 301 and Gibsonton Drive has recorded 367 crashes and 13 serious injuries or fatalities over a multi-year period, according to reporting from Matthews Injury Law.
That pattern didn't go unnoticed by local law enforcement. In September 2026, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office designated Gibsonton Drive, from U.S. 41 to New East Bay Road, as a high-risk corridor for targeted traffic safety enforcement under its High Visibility Enforcement Program. The corridor has also seen other high-risk incidents recently — in August 2026, Florida Highway Patrol troopers engaged in a pursuit near Interstate 75 and Gibsonton Drive after a suspect swerved at a patrol car during a traffic stop.
What Mendez-Leyva Could Face in Court
Under Florida Statute § 316.193(3)(c)3, DUI manslaughter is classified as a second-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum of four years in state prison, up to a maximum of 15 years, a fine of up to $10,000, and permanent driver's license revocation. But that four-year floor doesn't tell the whole story. Under Florida's Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet system, a single-count DUI manslaughter conviction scores 194 points, which establishes a statutory lowest permissible sentence of roughly 124.5 months — about 10.3 years — absent judge-granted mitigating circumstances, according to Lafrance Golondrino Law.
Mendez-Leyva also faces a separate charge under Florida Statute § 322.34(6)(a) for operating a vehicle without a valid license and negligently causing a death, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, per Online Sunshine's statutory text. Prosecutors pursuing DUI manslaughter charges are not required to prove intent to cause harm, but must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that impaired driving contributed to the fatal crash, according to the Brancato Law Firm.
Part of a Larger Countywide Pattern
The crash adds to a grim tally across Hillsborough County, which recorded 24,864 total traffic collisions in 2025 — an average of roughly 68 crashes per day countywide, according to data reported by Hoodline's earlier coverage of a separate Fowler Avenue crash. Gibsonton itself has seen fatal roadway violence before; Hoodline previously reported on the arrest of a driver in a fatal Gibsonton hit-and-run that killed a teen motorcyclist in December 2024.
No additional details about the victim's identity have been released. The investigation into Saturday's crash remains active.
