Jury Convicts Driver in Fatal Laguna Beach Hit-and-Run After Couple's Anniversary Dinner

A California jury has convicted 22-year-old Sysillia Kianna Morrison Montes De Oca over a fatal hit-and-run in Laguna Beach that killed 60-year-old Stanley Isaacs after he and his wife had celebrated their wedding anniversary.

The collision occurred on 11 August 2022, when Montes De Oca was 18. Isaacs and his wife, Catherina, were crossing South Coast Highway in a marked, lighted crosswalk at Pearl Street at about 9:38pm after celebrating their anniversary at nearby Ristorante Rumari.

Prosecutors argued that Montes De Oca was travelling at about twice the 35 mph speed limit, while the defence disputed the reliability of the speed estimate.

Montes De Oca was driving a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta when the car struck the couple, according to police. Isaacs suffered life-threatening injuries and later died at hospital. Catherina Isaacs suffered moderate injuries and was released from hospital that night, according to contemporaneous reporting.

Laguna Beach Hit-And-Run Conviction

On 10 September 2026, a jury found Montes De Oca guilty of gross vehicular manslaughter, hit and run with permanent and serious injury, and failing to stop at a hit and run involving injury or death. All three charges were felonies.

Jurors also found true a sentencing enhancement for fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter.

During closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Justin Kim told jurors that Montes De Oca had told the three passengers in the car that she planned to speed up shortly before the collision.

He also argued that she had smoked marijuana earlier that evening and that her conduct after the collision supported the prosecution's case.

Kim described Isaacs' injuries as including what he called an 'internal decapitation', a skull fracture, a snapped spine and 'smashed ribs'. He also said the impact sent Isaacs tumbling through the air.

Kim told jurors that Montes De Oca later returned to the area with a friend and conducted online searches relating to fatal hit-and-runs and a television station. He argued: 'It was not an ordinary mistake.'

Defence Says Young Driver 'Catatonic' After Crash

Montes De Oca did not remain at the scene after the collision. She surrendered to Laguna Beach police on 12 August 2022, the day after the crash.

Police located a silver 2009 Volkswagen Jetta concealed in a garage in Aliso Viejo, and impounded the vehicle as evidence.

Her friend Jack Francis Bannigan later pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact for concealing the damaged car.

According to court records, he received one year of informal probation and was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service.

Meanwhile, defence attorney Mike Molfetta disputed aspects of the prosecution's account. He argued that there was no evidence Montes De Oca had been smoking marijuana in the car and said the group had smoked earlier, but that it was unclear how much time had passed before the collision.

Molfetta said Montes De Oca was 'catatonic' after the collision and left the scene at the urging of her friends. He also challenged the prosecution's evidence about the vehicle's speed, describing the expert calculation as an estimate.

Molfetta further told jurors that video from the scene showed another driver making what he characterised as an illegal U-turn and argued that the manoeuvre may have distracted his client.

He also accused prosecutors of trying to turn the jury against Montes De Oca, saying: 'They need you to hate her to get a conviction.'

But the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts. No sentence has been imposed yet, and the court hearing scheduled for 13 November will determine the next legal step.

For Isaacs' family, the case has unfolded against the loss of a man remembered in the GoFundMe as someone whose 'gracious smile' brought joy to those around him. Catherina Isaacs, named as the fundraiser's beneficiary, survived the crash.