Judge: ‘We Had to Lose a Soul’ Before Repeat Speeder Was Held Accountable in Fatal I-795 Crash

OWINGS MILLS--A drunk driver with a history of excessive speeding and driving on a revoked license was sentenced Monday to three years in prison for causing a fatal crash on Interstate 795 while traveling more than 100 mph.

Danny Garcia-Landaverry, 24, pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter in connection with the Dec. 28, 2025, crash that killed 24-year-old David Umana Escobar.

Garcia-Landaverry was driving his father's 2011 Porsche Cayenne on I-795 near Dolfield Boulevard despite having a revoked driver's license.

A Maryland State Police crash investigator estimated the Porsche was traveling between 112 mph and 123 mph when it slammed into the rear of a 2011 Chevrolet Cruze that was traveling about 53 mph in the right lane around 2:15 a.m. The speed limit on that stretch of I-795 is 60 mph.

Umana, who was driving the Cruze, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Garcia-Landaverry, his two passengers and a passenger in the Cruze suffered nonfatal injuries.

Police said Garcia-Landaverry's blood alcohol concentration, measured about three hours after the crash, was 0.15%—nearly twice Maryland's legal limit.

The impact was so severe that the front of the Porsche was crushed into the Cruze's front passenger compartment.

Assistant State's Attorney Felise Kelly told Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Ralph Sapia that Garcia-Landaverry had a history of dangerous driving, including three convictions for speeding more than 30 mph over the posted limit and six convictions for driving on a revoked license.

Kelly said fatal crash sentencing hearings are typically accompanied by family members describing the pain of having a loved one "ripped from your life in an instant as the result of someone else's completely preventable action."

But this case, she said, was different.

Umana had come to the United States from Mexico, and the surviving passenger in his car returned to Mexico after being released from Shock Trauma. The passenger did not have contact information for Umana's family, leaving prosecutors unable to locate them or present victim impact statements.

"Was Mr. Umana someone who came to this country to work and send money home to his family?" Kelly said. "I just don't know."

Garcia-Landaverry apologized to the court and accepted responsibility for the crash.

"I'm not looking to make excuses or for any sympathy," he said. "There are no excuses for my choices. I'm the only one responsible."

He said it haunts him that the man he killed likely lived a life much like his own.

"I've taken a life away from a family that shares the same culture as I do, and their family probably does the exact things my family does," he said. "It's something I live with every day."

Defense attorney Kevin Carr urged Sapia to impose a sentence that would allow Garcia-Landaverry to continue working on his recovery rather than send him to prison.

Sapia said Garcia-Landaverry's record showed he had repeatedly escaped meaningful consequences for dangerous driving. Despite three convictions for excessive speeding and six convictions for driving on a revoked license, he had never served significant jail time because he had been able to pay the fines.

Sapia sentenced Garcia-Landaverry to 10 years in prison, suspending all but three years. He also ordered five years of supervised probation following Garcia-Landaverry's release.

The judge said he was troubled that Umana's family may still not know what happened to him.

"Imagine if you have all this family ... that were actually angry with you because they think you abandoned them, when in fact you were a victim of outrageous stupidity," Sapia said.

"It took Mr. Umana's death—we had to lose a soul—in order for him to take accountability," Sapia said.