6-Year-Old Dies After Suspected DUI in Bakersfield

On Sept. 28, 2025 at about 7:41 a.m. in the 2600 block of East Panama Lane near Cottonwood Road in Bakersfield, a black sedan rear-ended a white SUV at high speed, causing the SUV to roll into a nearby vineyard and critically injuring 6-year-old Azmeret Mayall. Azmeret was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County and died Sept. 29; her mother, Jacqueline, and a seven-month-old infant sustained minor to moderate injuries. Police say 20-year-old Cesar Magana (also reported as Cesar Magana-Mendoza) showed signs of impairment, was medically cleared, arrested and booked; charges were amended to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, he pleaded not guilty, is held on about $410,000 bail and is due back in court Nov. 19. A GoFundMe has been set up for the family. Law firm Chain, Cohn, Clark says the crash is among 24 DUI-related deaths in Bakersfield this year and is collecting petition signatures (more than 6,000) calling for stricter DUI laws. The Bakersfield Police Department says the investigation is ongoing, asks anyone with information to contact BPD, and noted attempts to reach the family were unsuccessful while the suspect declined comment.