Drunk Driver Pleads Guilty in Death

An Agoura Hills stockbroker has been convicted of killing a woman who was using an emergency call box while he was driving intoxicated on the Ventura Freeway, authorities said Thursday.

Owen Kelcher Jones, 59, pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter Tuesday in Santa Monica Superior Court. Prosecutors dropped a felony hit-and-run charge in a plea bargain that will send him to County Jail for one year and subject him to five years of probation.

Jones was driving west on the freeway near Liberty Canyon Road about 2 p.m. May 5 when he veered off the road, smashing into Kathryn (Kami) Montgomery, a 30-year-old Los Feliz resident.

After the impact, Jones drove off the freeway and stopped his 1991 Cadillac, according to police. Witnesses to the accident chased Jones to ensure that he remained until authorities arrived.

Jones’ blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.18%, more than double the legal limit, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lynch. Jones told police he had four drinks at lunch.

Judge Richard Neidorf ordered Jones to surrender to jail officials next week.

“I feel a year for my daughter’s life just isn’t enough,” Patricia Davis said in a phone interview from Lynchburg, Va. “There’s no way any kind of sentence would bring back my beautiful daughter.”

Davis has filed a civil lawsuit against Jones, seeking unspecified damages. “There’s really no question he is going to be found civilly responsible,” said Paul Cowan, the attorney representing Davis in the lawsuit.