Man pleads guilty in deadly Richmond-San Rafael Bridge crash

A San Rafael man has pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter for a 2023 collision that killed his passenger on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

Gerson Aldair Deleon Dominguez, 22, of San Rafael pleaded to the felony on Wednesday, waiving a judicial review to see if there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

Judge Geoffrey Howard set the sentencing for Jan. 28. Deleon Dominguez turned himself in at the county jail on Monday to begin serving his time.

Deleon Dominguez was driving west on the bridge with passenger Darolyn Reyes Rodas, 19, of San Rafael on the night of Dec. 17, 2023. He drove his sedan at a high speed and struck a slower vehicle while he changed lanes, according to the Marin County coroner’s office.

The collision caused the sedan to overturn and crash into the bridge railing and a moveable barrier, California Highway Patrol Officer Arthur Tellez said.

Bystanders attempted to save Reyes Rodas’ life, but she was pronounced dead at the crash site, Chief Deputy Coroner Roger Fielding said.

Deleon Dominguez suffered major injuries, Tellez said. The occupants of the other vehicle were not injured.

The CHP investigated the crash. Last December, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office charged Deleon Dominguez with vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving causing bodily injury.

“It’s a tragic case where the 19-year-old victim was pleading with the defendant to slow down because she was terrified,” the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Aicha Mievis, said Monday. “The defendant then lost control of the vehicle and she was killed. The family is devastated and will never recover.”

Deleon Dominguez will be sentenced to two years in state prison, Mievis said.

Deleon Dominguez’s public defender, Meredith McGuire, could not be reached for comment Monday.