Guilty plea: Crash killed young woman at side of Oroville road

Hillary Wilhite, 20, was one of three passers-by who had stopped  to give assistance to a driver whose car was stalled on Lower Wyandotte Road.

OROVILLE — A driver has pleaded guilty in a crash that killed a young Oroville woman who had pulled over to help a disabled vehicle.

Hillary Wilhite, 20, was one of three passers-by who had stopped around 9:20 p.m. on October 10, 2018,  to give assistance to a driver whose car was stalled on Lower Wyandotte Road, a two-lane rural road just southeast of Oroville.

As they stood on the shoulder, an eastbound car driven by William Mandril, 65, crossed the center line and crashed into the group.

Wilhite was killed. Her companions, Alyssa Marie Gramps and Wheynema H. Sutfin, suffered major injuries.

Mandril, who lives in the Yuba County community of Rackerby, pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges of vehicular manslaughter in  Butte County Superior Court, according to a press release issued  by the District Attorney’s Office.

Mandril failed multiple sobriety tests at the crash scene and refused an alcohol screening, the release said. Methamphetamine, oxycodone, the muscle relaxant carisoprodol and the anti-anxiety drug meprobamate were later found in Mandril’s blood.

At his sentencing in October, Mandril faces up to six years in state prison, according to the release. He was released on $240,000 bail in December.

Wilhite was a 2016 graduate of Oroville High School, where she played softball, basketball and volleyball and was named one of the top 10 students in that graduating class. At the time of her death she was attending Butte College — where she also played softball — and was planning to transfer to Chico State in the following spring.