'We got blindsided': Family wants drunk driver who paralyzed teenager to serve full sentence

    GALT, California (KCRA) -- The family of a Galt teenager left paralyzed after being hit by a drunk driver in March 2022 is trying to keep that driver in prison for her full sentence.

The convicted driver, Devin Calderon, 32, is being considered for an early release program two years into an eight-year sentence.

Angel Renteria's mother translates her daughter's new language by using her hands to make gestures.

"Don't drink and drive," said Kelly Carr, Angel's mother.

Angel, 19, may have lost her ability to speak but with her mother's voice, you can hear Angel's message loud and clear.

"We want her to stay in prison and stop getting a slap on the wrist," Carr said.

They want Calderon, who put Angel in a wheelchair, to finish her eight-year sentence behind bars.

"I thought we had justice. I was settling for the eight years and trying to move forward with that," Carr said. "We got blindsided, and it feels like we got ran over all over again."

Angel was walking her dog on March 14, 2022, in her Galt neighborhood when a truck hit her, leaving her lying in the roadway injured, changing Angel's life forever.

"She was on life support for months and then telling me that it was second to second if she was going to live or not," Carr said.

Carr received a letter in the mail from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation informing the family the convicted hit-and-run drunk driver, Calderon, whose blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit, is moving to an early release reentry program.

Angel's mom immediately told Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho.

"Angel is serving a life sentence," Ho said.

The DA's office did not get a CDCR letter and Ho said this is the first time he's heard of such a program with no input from the victims.

"When you were 16 years old, and you have your whole life and it's been ripped away, and now they're ripping that wound open again without giving them a chance to be heard," he said. "We want to change that."

They've started a Justice for Angel petition to give to the prison system.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is also pushing for the inmate to stay put.

"Angel's voice was stolen from her. Yet when you're in a room with Angel, her voice is the loudest one," said Rhonda Campbell, a MADD victims advocate.

Carr said they are fighting to keep Calderon out of the program.

"This is a horrific result of drunk driving," Carr said.

CDCR sent KCRA 3 News a statement:

A Female Community Reentry Program (FCRP) participant is not paroled, but rather is transferred to a supervised facility to continue serving their prison sentence. Those who are approved for the FCRP are carefully vetted based on their prison record and have two years or less (but at least 60 days) left to serve on their sentence. FCRP participants are closely supervised by CDCR and are subject to electronic monitoring. CDCR may return them to formal custody at any time.

This conditional placement is not a reward, and it does not minimize the participant’s crime nor the harm it caused. CDCR’s community reentry programs were developed to increase public safety by preparing participants to safely transition back into their communities once paroled. Studies have found that these programs decrease recidivism, which increases public safety.

Background from CDCR:

Devin. K. Calderon, 32, was received from Sacramento County on April 19, 2023. She was sentenced to eight years for DUI over legal BAC/bodily injury with an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury on a victim comatose/paralysis, and hit and run causing death or permanent serious injury. She received four days of pre-sentence credit for time served while awaiting sentencing and is eligible for credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated. She has served at the Puerta La Cruz Conservation Camp since Oct. 27, 2023, as support staff. Camp volunteers who work as support staff, but not on a fire crew, receive day-for day credits, meaning they receive one day off their sentence for every one day they serve.